StorageTek Lauds EMC-ADIC Deal

The head of Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek)s (NYSE: STK)
tape library division predicts EMC’s OEM deal with Advanced Digital Information Corp. (Nasdaq: ADIC)
will stimulate tape sales for StorageTek (see EMC to Resell ADIC Tape).

Hang on: So StorageTek gains from its rival’s partnership with EMC? That’s what Jon Benson, StorageTek’s VP of automated tape solutions, claims. And no, he's not drunk on sour grapes. Benson says ADIC is a poor fit for EMC.

“EMC has enterprise customers, but they partner with a company known for low-end autoloaders?” Benson says. “That’s not exactly the perfect marriage.”

Of course, ADIC hopes the deal with EMC helps get it the enterprise presence it has lacked. But Benson says StorageTek will reap benefits from EMC’s admitting that tape is a part of its ILM (information lifecycle management) strategy.

“We see it as a positive for StorageTek that EMC finally embraces tape,” Benson says. ”Any enterprise customer that needs tape is going to look to us. You have two choices for enterprise tape libraries: IBM
and us. If you’re an EMC customer, you’re probably not an IBM customer. So who do you go to for tape?”