StorageTek Adds More ILM

Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek) (NYSE: STK) has upped its bid in the ILM market through a partnership with Germany-based IXOS Software AG (Nasdaq: XOSY).

The alliance is a way for StorageTek to elbow its way through a growing crowd of information lifecycle management (ILM) products and vendors that are peddling tools to manage the content and archiving of data and email. The deal also should make StorageTek's Email Xcelerator package a bit more of an enterprise suite.

StorageTek will enhance Email Xcelerator with IXOS email archiving and content management software. StorageTek also will resell the IXOS-eCon Solution Suite with its storage management hardware.

StorageTek's been lagging in ILM. In fact, a bunch of competitors have beaten it to the punch. EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) bought Documentum Inc. to beef up its ILM capabilities; Network Appliance Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP) spun its Spinnaker Networks Inc. acquisition as a step towards ILM; and IXOS is already partnered with Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT; Paris: PHA), IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ). (See EMC Cops Documentum, NetApp Annexes Spinnaker, HDS Expands Software, Services, and HP Debuts ILM Strategy.)

StorageTek needs to expand its software capability,” Legg Mason Inc.senior analyst Clay Sumner says. “There doesn’t appear to be anything exclusive about this agreement, but it’s important for StorageTek to build out its ILM capabilities.”Email Xcelerator will pack the IXOS software in the form of new modules called StorageTek Email ArchiveMaster, Email ArchiveMaster with search and retrieve capability, and Email AuditMaster. IXOS-eCON Server for Exchange and IXOS-eCON Server for Lotus will also become part of Email Xcelerator.

StorageTek will support Email Xcelerator through its Global Services. "Customers are requiring this, and they’re looking for a one-stop shop," says Roger Good, StorageTek’s Director of Business Solutions. He claims the new pieces will let StorageTek customers automatically migrate email to less expensive media over time.

The partnership looks to be a boon for IXOS as well. Primarily, it gives the Europe-based company a way to get into the U.S. market. Last quarter, IXOS reported 64 percent of its revenues from Europe and 20 percent from America.

The deal with StorageTek builds on IXOS's strategy of partnerships. “IXOS has really sprung on the scene here with several major U.S. vendors,” Sumner says. With both Hitachi and StorageTek alliances under its belt, IXOS has a way to expand its reach in the magnetic and tape storage markets.

Despite its modest U.S. presence, IXOS is aiming high -- for market leadership, according to Richard Gailer, IXOS’s chief sales and marketing officer. Combinations of products and services will be key: "Customers are looking for an integrated solution -- hardware and software for archiving, content management, and storage management.”—David Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch