CommVault: Worth the Wait?

5:45 PM -- At last, CommVault's IPO seems imminent. Sometime very soon the software vendor will start trading on Nasdaq as CVLT.

CommVault's been the "next storage IPO" for years. Back in 2002, execs were already airing public ambitions. (See CommVault Aims for IPO.) But don't expect fireworks after the long wait. The proceeds from CommVault's IPO won't make anyone rich. Instead, the money will go to pay amounts due on the company's preferred shares. What's more, the initial buyers will see their investment drop in value before things get going, thanks to the vagaries of stock valuation. (See CommVault's One Step Closer.)

The move is notable nonetheless. The rise of CommVault, which spun out from Lucent in 1996 with modest prospects, testifies to the vigor of the storage networking market. Activity this week alone shows there's a lot going on around here, and a lot more in the works. (See Tandberg Bags Exabyte for $28M, Emulex Secures Sierra Logic, and QLogic Eyes SilverStorm.)

It's also worth noting that the management of CommVault predicted the growth of storage networking back in 1998, before it actually happened. Now, they're looking to build out a "data management solutions" empire based on software and services. The fact that they've made it to this point indicates they're at least headed in the right direction.

The next chapter should be worth the wait.Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch