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2004, February week 1, news archive

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Squeak! - the Top 10 Storage Software Companies
article:- Here Today, Gone Tomorrow - the problem with storage marketers
Squeak! - the Fastest Growing storage companies
Squeak! - the 10 biggest storage companies in 2005
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archive:- February 2001, February 2002, February 2003

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Dresden, Germany – February 6, 2004 – Infineon Technologies will expand the Memory Development Center at its Dresden reference location with the aim of further strengthening and extending the central role of the site in the development of process technology, particularly for DRAM and flash products. Toward that end, the company will erect a new building on the premises of its Dresden plant, with a development cleanroom at its center. Investments totaling around Euro 120 million (about $150 million) will be spent on the project over the next two years. Infineon currently expects to take on about 120 new hires for the Development Center expansion in the current fiscal year. ...Infineon Technologies profile


SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - February 5, 2004 - Qualstar Corporation today reported financial results for the second fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2003. Revenues for the quarter were $9.6 million, a 13.7% increase over the same quarter of the prior year. The increase in second quarter fiscal 2004 revenues was the result of higher sales of robotic libraries based on AIT tape technology, as well as a large shipment to an OEM customer. The Company reported net income of $207,000 for the second quarter of fiscal 2004. ...Qualstar profile


OAKDALE, MN - February 5, 2004 - Imation Corp. today announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share, payable March 30, 2004 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2004. ...Imation profile


Santa Clara, Calif. - February 4, 2004 - Network Associates today announced the availability of McAfee VirusScan for NetApp, which delivers reliable anti-virus protection for data stored on Network Appliance devices. The release of McAfee VirusScan for NetApp offers important new features and upgrades, including integration with McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator and multiple storage system support, giving organizations greater control and visibility into their system security. With McAfee VirusScan for NetApp, NetApp customers can ensure that they have the most robust protection against malicious threats, such as viruses, worms, and Trojans.

"Enterprise companies are increasingly migrating and consolidating their data storage systems to Windows based storage solutions," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of alliances at Network Appliance. "McAfee VirusScan for NetApp scans NetApp storage solutions and provides real-time virus protection for the massive amounts of critical information being stored and accessed by enterprise-level users." ...Network Appliance profile


MELVILLE, N.Y. - February 4, 2004 - FalconStor Software, Inc. today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2003. For the fourth quarter 2003, revenue was $5.1 million, compared with $3.4 million for the same period a year ago. Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2003 was $2.2 million. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2003, revenues increased 59% to $16.9 million compared with $10.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2002. Operating expenses increased 19% to $25.4 million in 2003 from $21.4 million in 2002. Net loss for 2003 decreased to $7.4 million compared with a net loss of $11.5 million for 2002. In addition, the Company closed the quarter financially strong with $36.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. ...FalconStor Software profile


LONGMONT, Colo. - February 4, 2004 - Cornice Inc. has secured $51 million in a second round of venture financing. The round includes the Company's previous investors - CIBC Capital Partners, Nokia Venture Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners - and brings on board new investors BA Venture Partners and GIC Special Investments Pte. Ltd. As a result of this second round of financing, Jim Jones, a director at BA Venture Partners, will join the Cornice Board of Directors. This round of financing brings the total amount invested in the Company to $81 million.

The new capital will be used to support sales, development, and manufacturing initiatives related to the company's Storage Element technology. The Storage Element is an embedded storage device for "pocket-able" electronic products such as digital music players, digital video capture devices, and other products. Cornice's two-gigabyte Storage Element, introduced in January 2004, has already been designed into products that made their debut at CES 2004. ...Cornice profile


SEATTLE - February 4, 2004 - Isilon Systems today announced the appointment of Tom Pettigrew to VP of OEM sales and strategic alliances. Pettigrew is responsible for developing a global sales channel program and establishing new partnerships with OEMs, resellers and distributors that will bring Isilon into new markets and further accelerate revenue growth.

Pettigrew has more than 20 years experience helping technology companies enter new markets with new products through strategic alliances, OEM partnerships, channel sales and partner development. Pettigrew is a veteran in the networking and storage industry, and an expert in business development on a global scale. Pettigrew joins Isilon from F5 Networks, where he spent more than six years forging relationships with such companies as Dell, HP, IBM, EDS and Nokia. In 2003, Pettigrew was named one of the top channel executives in the US by Computer Reseller News.

"Isilon is the leader in this explosive new category of storage for digital content, and partners are excited to take advantage of this amazing growth opportunity," said Steve Goldman, Isilon president and chief executive officer. "Tom has an impressive track record of forging strategic alliances to develop new markets, and the right partners will play a key role in Isilon's continued success."

Pettigrew joins the management team at Isilon and fills one of several positions open at the company. Isilon is expanding rapidly, with open positions in sales, marketing, engineering and quality assurance. For more information on partnering with Isilon, please contact Tom Pettigrew at tpettigrew@isilon.com or at 206-315-7500 ...Isilon Systems profile


POOLE, UK - February 4, 2004 - BakBone Software today announced the appointment of Patrick Clarke to the position of vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa. Clarke, based in London, has extensive experience in the enterprise software and storage market and will be responsible for expanding BakBone's EMEA operations and revenue growth. Clarke brings to BakBone over ten years of sales and general management experience in both the enterprise hardware and software sectors. Most recently, he served as vice president of EMEA for Overland Storage for three years, and was responsible for increasing Overland's EMEA revenues by more than 65%. ...BakBone profile


Irvine, CA - February 3, 2004 – ADTX announced Pinnacle Systems' qualification of the new ADTX L Series RAID system for use with CinéWave. This RAID system combines a 2Gb Fibre Channel interface with SATA and state-of-the-art ADTX-specific features to create a solution for some of the most demanding video applications.

"The ADTX L Series RAID is a robust system that passed our tests without exceptions," said Andrew Baum, Pinnacle Systems Senior Product Manager for CinéWave. "CinéWave's industry-leading HD and SD video production capability places rigorous demands on storage systems. The highest performing systems help to unlock the full potential of CinéWave and the L Series provided more than enough throughput for certification."

The ADTX L Series benefits from all the advantages of SATA plus some extra innovations usually reserved for enterprise-class systems. Instant Copy (hardware based), Remote Mirroring (hardware based) and Path Cruise (path failover) are options from ADTX that provide enhanced capability and reliability. The L Series has storage capacities up to 3.75 terabytes and it is priced to compete against other systems. ...ADTX profile


Hoboken, N.J. - February 3, 2004 - NSI Software, Inc. today announced its tenth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. Revenue for the quarter was up 66% from the fourth quarter of 2002 and year-to-year revenue growth increased by 80%. In the fourth quarter, NSI continued to experience strong growth from new and repeat sales for services and software from OEM and channel partners.

"IDC expects that storage replication software will be one of the fastest growing segments of the storage software market from 2004 through 2007. NSI Software is well positioned in this market, emerging as a revenue leader in the Windows, host-based replication arena in 2002 and 2003," said Bill North, director of research, Storage Software, IDC. ...NSI Software profile


MILPITAS, Calif. - February 3, 2004 - LSI Logic Storage Systems today announced that the company's alliance manager, Julie Ryan, has been elected to the board of the SNIA Storage Management Forum where she will serve as secretary and business development chairperson. The mission of the SMF is to drive the first common and interoperable management backbone for storage networks called the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). The SMF focuses on creating multi-vendor interoperability for the SMI-S, promoting SMI development of standards and industry implementation; sponsoring plugfests and educational events; and conducting compliance tests and certification programs. ...LSI Logic Storage Systems profile, ...SNIA profile


Waltham, MA - February 3, 2004 - Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont can now protect their mission-critical data with AmeriVault's online data backup and recovery solution. AmeriVault, whose pioneering solution has widely gained acceptance within the private sector with thousands of users throughout the country, is now easily and readily available to government agencies within the above-mentioned states through the ITS07 multi-state contract (vendor code 043404600 K001).

"Given that government data has greater security risks and has high sensitivity, in no other industry is it more critical to have a fail-safe data protection solution," said Bud Stoddard, President & CEO of AmeriVault. "In recent months, we have seen government agencies placing an increasing emphasis on data protection." ...AmeriVault profile


IRVINE, Calif. – February 2, 2004 – Broadcom Corporation today announced that it has acquired RAIDCore, Inc. RAIDCore currently provides a complete enterprise-class RAID software stack targeted at high volume single and dual processor servers. Employing RAIDCore's proprietary Fulcrum Architecture, the software is operating system, I/O bus and hardware independent and can be used with existing and future server RAID solutions, whether based on SATA RAID or SAS RAID. The acquisition of RAIDCore and its full-featured, enterprise-class RAID software stack will enable Broadcom to offer a unique and complete set of RAID solutions to the server storage market.

With the emergence of low cost, high capacity SATA drives, and the constant need to increase storage within servers, Broadcom has identified an opportunity to efficiently and reliably manage storage resources within a server through the combination of Broadcom silicon and RAIDCore software. The initial products resulting from the acquisition will focus on highly integrated RAID-on-chip (ROC) and RAID-on-motherboard (ROM) solutions for entry-level and mid-range server applications. ...Broadcom profile, ...RAIDCore profile


KFAR-SABA, Israel - February 2, 2004 - M-Systems announced that it plans to offer 5,600,000 of its ordinary shares in a public offering. M-Systems will grant the underwriters of the offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 ordinary shares to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is being made through an underwriting syndicate led by Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as the sole bookrunner and lead manager. ...M-Systems profile


Cupertino, CA - February 2, 2004 - Version 4.0 of the MultiMediaCard specification was introduced today by the MultiMediaCard Association. The new, feature-rich version 4.0 specification represents a major expansion of the MultiMediaCard standard, opening new levels of sophistication and marketing opportunities to the digital imaging and mobile phone industries. To ensure smooth transition from previous versions of the MMC standards, the new specification defines backward compatibility paths for both legacy cards and host devices that accept MultiMediaCards. The specification is provided to all MMCA members.

Three key features of the new specification are: wider bus-width, higher clock frequency and dual voltage operation. Operating at 52 MHz in x8 bit mode, data can be transferred at up to 52 Mbyte/sec., a 20-fold improvement from the previous standards. This is the highest data transfer rate of all flash memory card form factors available today.

According to Joe Unsworth, Semiconductor Memory Analyst at GartnerDataquest, "The MMCA has made a strategic decision to target the mobile phone market, and because that segment is forecast to be the leading application for flash cards by 2006, it has given new life to the format." ...MMCA profile


SAN JOSE, CALIF. - February 2, 2004 - ARIO Data Networks today announced its entrance into the OEM serial I/O marketplace with a new approach to the development of entry-level and mid-range enterprise storage subsystems. The venture-funded company, which was formed by a seasoned team of OEM storage experts, will ship SATA and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) solutions that address the market need for cost effective, modular, available, and scalable storage subsystems. Designed for SAN, NAS and DAS environments, ARIO's hardware controllers enable storage OEMs to integrate dramatically lower cost SATA disk drive technology into their subsystems. ARIO Data's family of high performance SATA controllers, announced separately today, is now available with Fibre Channel, Ultra 320 SCSI, and iSCSI host connectivity.

Next generation serial I/O technologies, such as Serial ATA and Serial Attached SCSI, will enable the deployment of affordable and flexible storage systems," said Johnny Tseng, founder and CEO of ARIO Data Networks. "ARIO Data provides its OEM partners the architecture, technology, product offering and feature sets they require for entry and mid-range enterprise subsystems, while at the same time delivering a significant reduction in subsystem TCO." ...ARIO Data Networks profile


ATLANTA - February 2, 2004 - AMI today announced the release of its Linux-based StorTrends NAS software version v2.2. This upgrade allows AMI to supply customers with support for multiple languages, enhanced Active Directory Services, a new GUI for ease of use and increased reliability. AMI implemented some of the new features based on feedback it received from its international storage customers. AMI saw a trend in companies progressively installing Linux-based systems into their networks and assigning NAS to important roles in their storage infrastructures.

The NAS software can be used from anywhere and supports a variety of languages, including Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French and German. It features a fast hardware setup, increased reliability with mirroring support and Enhanced Active Directory Service (eADS) support that allows administrators to easily change the access rights from the client. ...AMI profile


ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - February 2, 2004 - QLogic Corp. today announced the QLogic SANbox 5200, the first Fibre Channel stackable switch, and the first switch to feature 10 gigabit technology, is now available to resellers via QLogic authorized distributors worldwide. With an MSRP of $5,795 for an 8-port configuration, the SANbox 5200 is a price leader that delivers breakthrough ease-of-use with wizard-based installation, the ability to scale to 64 ports without losing a single port to inter-switch links, blazing 10Gb performance, and complete stack management from a single application.

"The stackable IP switch has proven to be the most popular type of Ethernet switch because of its scalability and ease of use," George Lyon, Senior Systems Administrator," State of Oregon. "Finally it's possible to set up Fibre Channel storage networks with the same approach. The SANbox 5200 is a simple, affordable solution designed to grow with our business as our storage needs evolve." ...QLogic profile


SANTA CLARA, CA and YOKNEAM, ISRAEL - February 2, 2004 - Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. announced today that as of January 2004 more than 200,000 InfiniBand ports have been shipped to customers for a broad range of InfiniBand based applications. Surpassing this milestone indicates an increased rate of sales for Mellanox InfiniBand products as twice the number of ports were sold in the past six months than during the prior six months. ...Mellanox Technologies profile


ALISO VEIEJO, Calif. - February 2, 2004 - ChannelWave, Inc. today announced that Maxtor Corporation has selected ChannelWave to provide a global Partner Relationship Management solution to drive the company's expanding channel communications, marketing and sales strategies. Maxtor sells its storage solutions through a network of distributors, resellers, systems integrators and consultants with businesses in consumer electronics, enterprise storage, home entertainment and dozens of vertical applications. The company will use ChannelWave's PRM solution to automate channel partner recruitment, profiling and program management, create and drive targeted marketing campaigns, manage sales opportunities and measure channel performance. Maxtor's global PRM infrastructure is scheduled to be deployed first in Japan and the Asia Pacific region in Q2 2004, followed by Europe and North America. ...ChannelWave, ...Maxtor profile

Other news on this page

Infineon Expands Memory Development Center

AIT Libraries Help Qualstar Growth

Imation Declares Initial Quarterly Dividend

McAfee VirusScan Available for NetApp

FalconStor Software Reports Annual Revenue Up 59%

Cornice Secures $51 Million In Venture Funding

Isilon Names VP of OEM Sales and Strategic Alliances

BakBone Software Announces VP of EMEA

ADTX L Series RAID Storage Certified with CinéWave

NSI Software's 10th Consecutive Growth Quarter

Julie Ryan Elected to Board of SMF

AmeriVault Protects New England states

Broadcom Acquires RAIDCore

M-Systems Announces Public Offering of Shares

MMC ver 4.0 is 20 x Faster

A New name in SATA - ARIO Data Networks

StorTrends NAS Software Speaks Your Language

QLogic Shipping Stackable Fibre Channel Switches

Mellanox Ships 200K InfiniBand Ports

Maxtor Selects ChannelWave to Strengthen Visibility

earlier news (archive)

fibre channel
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Megabyte found that Fibre-channel was a really quick way of getting around.

Nibble:- Poor Market Research by Storage Vendors Means Users Have to Work Harder to Avoid Paying Too Much

M
any storage vendors are sloppy at market research - particularly in the area of competitive research. This manifests itself in a number of ways.

Incorrect claims about technology firsts.

I often get a sense of deja vu when seeing press releases which claim that a company is the first to ship a certain type of technology or product. A quick bit of research in the STORAGEsearch news archives reveals that another company did exactly the same thing maybe 6 to 10 months before. When I query this with the press release originator the reply is often that they genuinely didn't know about the earlier product. If I do run the news item then I use my editorial prerogative to filter out the misleading "first" claim, while leaving the other facts intact.

Uncompetitive pricing.

It's surprising how often new products are launched at a price point which is significantly above other preexisting products which are functionally identical. If you exclude the memory market - which is a special case - in which the average selling price this year will be higher than in 2003 because of supply and demand issues - then other types of storage would normally follow a declining price curve over time. You'd be surprised how many times company A is promoting a storage product at twice the price of company B. When you look into it - you find that the company selling at the higher price doesn't seem to be aware who its competitors are or what price they're selling at. All they know for sure is that their sales don't seem to be growing as quickly as expected.

The root cause of this is that marketing managers are too busy (or inexperienced) to do competitive market research competently. But there's also a disincentive in venture capital backed companies to spend any money on market research at all. One experienced California based market research friend of mine commented about this phenomenon . He said the VCs and the founders think they know it all anyway, and they see no good reason for spending money to find out what they think they already know. That might account for the high failure rate of many well funded start ups - who close their eyes to the market once their business plan gets the money.

But the fact is you don't have to spend money on market reports to find out who your competitors are. Publications like STORAGEsearch group together companies in the same product catgory - and trawling through the web pages we link to can provide the basic information which many storage marketers seem to lack.

How does this affect users?

Users have to be vigilant about paying too much and they have to ignore many vendors' spurious claims about technology or market leadership. Even though the storage market is a commodity market, which should reduce price point variations, that's not happening. Instead it appears that imperfect market awareness in the storage vendor community creates much bigger price discrepencies than would be tolerated in more mature markets. By shopping around - users can sometimes pay 50% less for identical solutions.

What should storage marketers do?

By learning more about their competitors storage marketers can benefit too. Helping their companies get closer to reality might help some storage companies survive longer.

See also:- Market research

Olixir Technologies
Olixir Technologies, based in Milpitas, Calif., designs and markets ruggedized external disk drives and disk to disk backup systems.
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