EMC May Add Index Engines to Centera

EMC hopes to augment the e-discovery capabilities of Centera by adding software from Index Engines, according to industry sources.

Neither EMC nor Index Engines responded to requests for comment today, but people familiar with both firms say EMC will likely make a move sometime in the near future to add Index Engines' data retrieval capabilities to Centera.

What's not clear is the extent of the rumored deal. Index Engines already is a member of EMC's Velocity ISV program. But at least one analyst, who asked not to be named, says the upcoming agreement will be more significant. "It's more like an OEM deal, not just a body hug."

Index Engines also has partnership agreements with BlueArc, Copan, and RenewData, among others.

At the heart of Index Engines' adoption by these and other suppliers is its ability to grab metadata from offline tapes or from disks, organize it, and turn it into a searchable repository.EMC has its own file discovery program, Infoscape, which discovers files and classifies them for storage on Celerra and Centera platforms. While EMC spokesman Todd Cadley had no information or comment on any potential Index Engines deal at press time, he did say EMC has no intention to replace Infoscape.

The news is just the latest in ongoing rumblings around Centera. "EMC has to do something," said the industry analyst mentioned above. "Customers have had a lot of complaints."

The analyst alludes to persistent rumors regarding dissatisfaction among customers with some aspects of the Centera platform. So far, though, those complaints have centered on performance and scaleability, not data classification for e-discovery.Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Byte and Switch's editors directly, send us a message.