Keeping Up With EMC

ORLANDO, Fla. -- One of the biggest challenges at SNW this week has been keeping pace with EMC. With tradeshows in two of its key markets -- security and storage -- taking place in different locations (SNW here and RSA in San Francisco), it's been tough for reporters to keep pace with Hopkinton's product news. Not to mention the M&A stories EMC has triggered back on Wall Street.

In case you've been working your day job too hard to take note, here are the news items EMC has generated in the last few days:

• April 4 Purchase of WysDM: While many of us were packing our bags for sunnier climes, EMC closed the purchase of a key OEM supplier, WysDM, for an undisclosed sum (rumored to be less than $30 million). Founded in 2001 as SysDM, the startup never took venture funding and formed a lucrative OEM deal with EMC in 2005. Since then, EMC has resold WysDM's software in its Backup Advisor product.

  WysDM has roughly 40 employees based in New York City and London. While it's not clear yet whether all will end up working for EMC, CEO and founder Alan Atkinson is staying on board as VP of product management for Backup Advisor, reporting to Mark Sorenson, SVP of EMC's Information Management Software Group (IMSG).

  EMC spokespeople say WysDM's software will continue to be developed for stronger management of backup reporting and predictive analysis.

• April 7 – Centera XAM Development Kit Announcement: On Day 1 of SNW, EMC unveiled an SDK and Early Adopter Program for the eXtensible Access Method (XAM) specs created by EMC and 50-odd other members of the SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association). SNIA also has its own XAM SDK, which the group claims will be publicly available later this year.

  EMC's XAM SDK is available to EMC partners, who can click here for details.