Business Value of Continuous Data Protection with Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server

Transcription

1 Business Value of Continuous Data Protection with Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server Sponsored by 4080 McGinnis Ferry Road Suite 603 Alpharetta, GA Copyright 2006

2 Business Value Analysis Study Table of Contents Executive Summary... 3 Business Drivers... 4 Technology Challenges... 5 Symantec Solution... 6 The Business Value... 7 Eliminating the Backup Window... 7 Reducing Tape Expenses... 7 Improving Staff Productivity... 8 Customer Case Studies... 9 Farmers and Merchant Bank... 9 Clyde Companies, Inc Cincinnati Thermal Spray, Inc Summary E-Business Strategies, Inc. E-Business Strategies (ebs) is a technology research and ROI consulting practice. The company offers cutting-edge research, customized consulting services, white papers and innovative educational programs. E-Business Strategies services are designed to give companies the ability to sense, adapt, and respond quickly to changes in the marketplace

3 Executive Summary Business Drivers: Because of the informationintensive environment in today s workplace, organizations face an explosion in data. System availability requirements are growing, and this is dramatically shrinking backup windows. These two trends place increasing pressure on IT organizations to improve backup efficiencies while delivering ondemand data recovery. Primary technology challenges associated with backup and restore focus on the following operational improvements: Creating backup files in virtual real time, as soon as changes to data occur Managing data backup from remote locations to a central data center, including instantaneous disk-based backup Eliminating involvement of IT staff in restoring files via the enablement of end users to enact file recovery Solution: Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server, a new disk-based component, which is also known as Symantec Backup Exec 10d, delivers the following capabilities: Business Value: Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server helps IT organizations generate tangible business value. Potential results include: Elimination of backup windows improves system availability. Backup processes no longer cause unplanned downtime, resulting in loss of staff productivity. Lower costs through the reduction or elimination of tape expenses via migration from tape-based backups to disk-based backups. Reduction in costs associated with server and storage hardware, software licensing, and IT administration at remote offices via centralization of backup operations to a single data center. Improvement in IT staff productivity through the elimination of file restoration requests, with end users having the ability to perform their own file restorations. Continuous protection: Data is backed up as changes are made; this ensures up-to-the-second data protection while eliminating backup windows. End-user file restoration: End users have the ability to restore their own files directly from disk. This improves service levels while reducing IT administrative costs. Delta changes: Changed data is captured and protected at the block-level, thereby saving time and reducing network traffic. Powerful administration console: System administrators can backup and restore all continuous protection jobs from the Backup Exec console

4 Business Drivers As information technology (IT) spread throughout the business processes of enterprises over the past 10 years, IT organizations came under increasing pressure to properly protect the business data that drives those processes. To complicate matters, 65% of organizations consider growth in messaging storage to be a serious or very serious problem, slightly more problematic than the problem of spam itself. Osterman Research, Messaging Security Market Trends, , May 2005 systems availability for conducting business operations is no longer limited to the traditional 8 AM to 5 PM work day, but rather is a endeavor, a shift that drastically reduces the window of time available for data backup. In addition, the volume of information generated each day continues to burgeon, further exacerbating the backup process. Consider as an example the growing volume of and messaging data. The volume of and messaging data is exploding, creating enormous demand for archival storage. has become a business-critical application, with four out of five enterprises using to conduct business transactions. The average messaging user sends and receives nearly 25,000 s annually; and this number will continue to grow. The consequence to this large and growing volume of dictates that it is being increasingly used for legal discovery. content has also become richer in terms of storage and bandwidth requirements; it is no longer just plain text messages, but often embeds formatting and graphics information. In addition, frequently includes attached documents that may require megabytes of additional storage. Consequently, the system has become a virtual file system containing a wide range of information. In today s value-driven economy, many IT organizations simply cannot afford to add hardware or more IT staff to address these changing requirements. Instead, they face growing pressure to reduce costs while driving greater operational efficiencies. The concept of doing more with less is increasingly applicable. Traditional data protection approaches are often complex, time-consuming, and costly. For example, for most mid-sized businesses with Microsoft Windows-based environments and multiple locations, data backups take place at each individual site, with separate servers, tape systems, and dedicated IT staff. Following normal business hours, IT staff at each location conducts individual backups from local servers to backup tapes, which are then transferred to a primary storage location. If one of the individual locations experiences a system failure and thus data loss, the backup tapes are manually returned and the data restored to the local servers. Both the backup and the restore processes are timeconsuming and incur significant staffing costs. In instances where an end user needs to restore a lost file, the restoration process is similarly complex and resource intensive, as IT administrators must locate the tape on which the data is contained, retrieve it from the off-site location, mount it, allocate the file, and restore it to the end user. Backup to disk is a key ingredient in the streamlining of the backup process. By streamlining the backup process, IT organizations are able to protect more data in less time. Disk-based data protection, specifically continuous data protection, also provides the opportunity to address the following business drivers: A complete, integrated disk-to-disk-to-tape solution eliminates tape backup as the primary data protection method. Continuous protection eliminates the need for a backup window. End users have the ability to recover their own files, releasing IT for more productive endeavors

5 Until recently, this process was hindered by technological challenges, which will be explored in the next section of this white paper. Technology Challenges Disk-based backup writes information to a hard drive, storing the data as a single file. This method is gaining more widespread adoption, as major issues associated with disk cost, drive spanning, and file and disk management are addressed. The specific issues are outlined below: Disk cost. Once prohibitive, disk costs have plummeted over the past several years, making disk backup a more viable option for businesses of all sizes to use. Drive spanning. Disk-backup functionality allows that most major backup applications span across multiple drives. The most effective diskbackup solutions support rewriteable, removable media such as DVD-RW, CD-RW, and Zip and Jaz disks. File management. File management enables administrators to set size limits and maximum numbers of files per backup job to standardize the file management process. Disk management. Disk management enables backup applications to reserve disk space, thus preventing disk-full errors by providing an early media-capacity threshold warning. In more advanced software, disk-based backup also supports the ability to run up to 16 simultaneous backup jobs to the same disk. In addition, such software provides features like automatic detection of buffered reads, which increases performance through faster backups. However, while disk-based backups have significantly enhanced the speed of the backup process and recovery process, it still does not address the phenomenon of the shrinking backup window that many IT organizations are experiencing. It also does not address the ever-increasing complexity of incremental and differential backups and in particular the move to differential backups. This backup approaches only backs up changed or differential information in a file, rather than the whole file itself. Capability Continuous Protection Easy Recovery Full-System Restore Powerful Administration Console Server backs up files immediately to a specific destination with no wait time or preset time intervals. This function keeps productivity high while protecting critical information. Any user in the network can restore files by logging on to the Web Retrieval Interface. Entire servers can be backed up including system-level files. In the event of a system-wide failure, such as a virus attack, business servers can be quickly restored. IT administrators can backup and restore from any source. The administration console enables IT organizations to define backup destinations, customize jobs, view status, and discover new issues. Figure 1: Capabilities of Server - 5 -

6 With true continuous disk-based data protection, data is protected immediately and continuously with minimal impact to ongoing business activity. This addresses the backup window issue in many IT shops and may eliminate the backup window altogether. This simplified approach streamlines IT management while increasing cost savings. Symantec Solution Server is an integral component of Backup Exec 10d software, providing a complete and integrated diskto-disk-to-tape solution. Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server delivers the instantaneous, continuous backup that is critical for many IT organizations today. This disk-backup method far outpaces tape-based backup, both functionally and logistically. Disk storage can support backups for multiple file servers, simultaneously. It also ensures that data is always protected and readily accessible in native formats without requiring physical manipulation of data retrieval. This allows end users to securely retrieve their files without doing any harm to the file, server, or backup configuration this results in time saved for both workers and IT organizations. The following describes the operational working of Server: 1. As a file is written to a local file server (business server), data is immediately backed up over a LAN or WAN connection to the Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server located in either a main or local office. File changes are captured and protected continuously. 2. The Continuous Protection Server is backed up to a Backup Exec media server, where data can be archived on tape for off-site storage an added protection measure in the event of catastrophic failure. 3. Data snapshots are captured on hourly intervals to provide versioning and granular point-in-time recovery of files. 4. End users can securely retrieve files using Symantec Backup Exec Retrieve, a Web-based retrieval interface, further eliminating the need for IT assistance. Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server Figure 1: Overview of Server - 6 -

7 5. All continuous protection jobs are centrally managed using the Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server administration console. Business Value Server provides substantial backup process improvements, resulting in reduced total cost of ownership (TCO). The TCO reduction comes from three primary sources: Elimination of the backup window Reduction in tape expense Improvement in IT productivity Eliminating the Backup Window Eliminating the backup window can provide a significant impact on the bottom line of an organization by increasing system availability and workforce productivity. When backup activity and normal business operations run simultaneously, backup downtime is eliminated an impact that is quantifiable. The value is measured by initially determining downtime cost per hour. While the cost per hour is obviously unique for each organization, IT research provides industry-level estimates. In the example below, the value of $1,000 per hour, which is representative of a small to medium-sized business, will be used as a baseline. For example, if an organization has a backup requirement of 16 hours per day and business operations has a need for 12 hours of system availability each day, there is a four-hour overlap that must be eliminated. Using the estimated $1,000 per hour of downtime, there is an annual cost of downtime of US$1,460,000 associated with the backup window (See Figure 2 for more detail). Reducing Tape Expenses Instead of using tape, Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server uses disk-based backup to protect data, which can result in considerable savings. Consider the following scenario. The ABC Company uses tape backup in addition to Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server. The company currently has a three terabyte storage environment with a change rate of 50 gigabyte (GB). Change rate is the typical size of the change in files that will need to be backed up. The IT organization has an 80GB tape media device with a three-month data retention policy. Downtime due to Backup Window (Hours) Cost of Downtime per Hour (US$) Days per Year Net Annual Downtime (US$) 4 1, ,460,000 Figure 2: Business Value Illustration for Backup Window Downtime - 7 -

8 The following business value analysis pinpoints the cost savings related to the migration from tape- to disk-based backup for the ABC Company. The annual tape costs for a traditional tape-based backup for the ABC Company can be calculated as follows: 3TB per day backup requirement 80GB storage per tape = 38 tapes for a full week of backups. The total number of tapes required annually, assuming a three-month retention policy is calculated as follows: 38 tapes/week 4 weeks/ month 3-month retention = 456 tapes annually. Using the average cost per tape of US$50, the annual tape cost for this process is US$22,800. Server eliminates the need to perform full tape backups for the ABC Company, which is able to perform daily incremental backups stored to tape. By storing only the daily file change, the retention period can be reduced. In this case, the retention period is now four weeks. Using this scenario, the annual tape costs is as follows: 50GB average daily change 80GB tape media capacity is one tape for incremental backup per day. The annual number of tapes is 1 tape per day 5 tapes per week 4-week retention = 20 tapes annually. At US$50 per tape, this amounts to an annual cost of tape of US$1,000. As a result, Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server produces annual savings of US$21,800 in tape costs. See Figure 3 for more detail. While the focus of this tape backup example is on cost savings for the physical media, savings also extend to IT administration of backups, from day-today management, to tape rotation, to tape distribution, to offsite storage facilities. This reduction in tape storage also reduces the number of tape drives needed for the backup system, resulting in additional savings. Improving Staff Productivity Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server allows end users to restore and retrieve their own files. Without this capability, the typical chain of events to restore a file is very IT-resource intensive. With Server, end users can search, find, and retrieve files from the Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server themselves, all without any involvement from the IT organization. This self-service method of file restoration works through a simple Web-based interface and merely requires a standard Web Annual Tape Costs using Traditional Tape Backup 22,800 (US$) Annual Tape Costs using Backup Exec Continuous 1,000 Protection Server (US$) Annual Savings (US$) 21, 800 Assumptions: Annual Tape Costs using Traditional Tape Backup = (3TB 80 GB) 4 weeks/month 3-month retention US$50 per tape = US$22,800 Annual Tape Costs using Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server = (50GB 80GB) 5 tapes per week 4-week retention US$50 per tape = US$1,000 Figure 3: Business Value Illustration for Reduction in Tape Costs - 8 -

9 browser no software or agents are needed on the workstation. Recognizing the need for rules-based file restoration, Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server also enforces system security rules to prevent users from accessing classified data. A typical file restore funneled through the IT department can take anywhere from one to three hours to accomplish (with the possibility of days in some extreme cases). Using a median of 1.5 hours, and an average fully burdened cost-labor rate of US$60 per hour, a single restoration incident can cost an organization US$90, plus the lost productivity to the workforce during the restoration period. In the Eliminating the Backup Window section of this paper, a downtime cost-per-hour figure of US$1,000 was used. Using this figure, the total cost of a single restoration incident is on average US$1,590. Using an assumption of 10 file restorations per month, the resulting annual figure is US$190,800 in IT staff lost productivity. See Figure 4 for more detail. Because Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server eliminates the need for IT resources to restore files, rather making it a self-service function for all end users, IT staff are able to focus on delivering a greater impact to the bottom line. Centralizing the backup storage location to the central office also enables IT organizations to concentrate their resources in one location; this consolidated approach improves IT staff productivity. At the same time, branch offices no longer need to supplement IT resources to perform localized backups. In the end, this streamlining of resources creates business value for IT organizations. Customer Case Studies The following scenarios illustrate the business value Server is delivering for three organizations: Farmers and Merchants Bank, Clyde Companies, and Cincinnati Thermal Spray. Farmers and Merchants Bank Organization Overview: Farmers and Merchants Bank (FMB) ( operates 20 branches throughout southern California, serving each community with a full range of advanced business, personal, and online banking services. FMB has made substantial investments in overhauling and upgrading its technology infrastructure in order to Median time to restore a single file (hours) 1.5 IT staff fully burdened rate per hour (US$) 60 IT staff lost productivity for a single file (US$) 90 Organizational cost of downtime (US$) 1,500 Total cost per single file restoration incident (US$) 1,590 Annual number of file restorations performed 120 Annual lost productivity for file restoration (US$) 190,800 Assumptions: IT staff lost productivity for a single file (US$) = = US90 US$90 Organizational cost of of Downtime downtime (US$) = US$1, ho = US$15,000 Annual number of file restorations performed = 10 files per month 12 months ss = 120 == files Figure 4: Business Value Illustration for Lost Productivity - 9 -

10 position itself for future business growth, while concurrently maintaining its high standards for customer service excellence. Challenges: FMB previously relied on a data backup and tape archival strategy performed locally at each of its 20 branch locations. And like many financial institutions, FMB generates extensive transaction records and messages that are highly sensitive to customers and a vital to ongoing business. Backups were becoming increasingly unreliable, took more time to complete, incurred substantial expenses for tape media, and required more infrastructure and personnel resources to manage. Solution: FMB migrated from Computer Associates ARCserve to Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers for shorter backup times and enhanced reliability in With a wealth of customer information that must be kept both secure and available, FMB requires a resilient infrastructure. In With Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server, users don t have to call us anymore; they can find files themselves. It saves time in the IT group as well. Jerry Craft, Assistant Vice President, Network Services, Farmers and Merchants Bank late 2004, seeking to enhance its backup hardware and software infrastructure, FMB chose to migrate to a Dell NAS environment with Symantec Backup Exec 10 for Windows Server for continuous data protection of all of its branches. With this solution in place, FMB was able to automate and centralize backups, which are secured in the bank s data center rather than individual branches. Symantec Technical Support provided assistance with the upgrade process. Then, in early 2006, wanting to provide employees with the ability to restore their own files, FMB added to Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server. Benefits: FMB is reaping significant benefits as a result of overhauling its Microsoft Windows-based data protection environment. The bank estimates annual savings of US$100,000 through the elimination of tape backups at each branch and 24 hours a week in labor cost savings. FMB now Solution-at-a-Glance for Farmers and Merchants Bank Challenges: Reduce risk of data loss for 20 branch offices Decrease cost associated with data backup and archiving at each individual branch Meet range of governmental regulatory requirements for data retention Centralize backups for all important business information daily from branches to a primary location and backup securely Solution: Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers Server Benefits: 100% ROI in five months via cost savings and efficiency gains US$100,000 saved per year in out-of-the pocket expenses and 24-staff hours per week via elimination of branch backups US$136,000 projected savings per year in increased user productivity through self-service restoration of lost or corrupted files 25% projected annual growth in data volume with no increase in IT staff 20% estimated improvement in IT staff productivity for backup operations Symantec Backup Exec Desktop and Laptop

11 completes the combined backup of its 20 branches in about four hours, less than the time it took each individual branch to back up their local data. Enhanced integration and improved performance of the Symantec Backup Exec solution are also helping the bank to drive staff productivity by 20%, all the while accommodating 25% annual data growth. When the cost savings and efficiency gains are compiled, FMB achieved 100% return on investment within five months on its upgrade to Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Server. And the integration of Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server provides individual users with the ability to restore their own files. With 500 employees and an average of 15 minutes for each user saved weekly, this adds up to US$136,000 in annual productivity savings. Symantec Backup Exec 10 offers the consistent, reliable backups and restores and centralized administration that we need for our environment. Jeffrey Griener, Director of Information Technology, Clyde Companies, Inc. Clyde Companies, Inc. Organization Overview: Based in Utah, Clyde Companies, Inc. ( depends on a range of enterprise applications for its highway and heavy construction operations. The company has more than 2,000 employees in 30 locations and maintains three data center locations in Orem, Murray, and St. George, Utah. Challenge: The 10-member IT group at Clyde Companies oversees various applications running on more than 40 different servers in the company s three data centers. The IT group is under constant pressure to keep service levels high without adding staff. Lowering total cost of ownership and streamlining operational efficiencies are important business requirements, with the IT group continually seeking technology solutions to facilitate its efforts in both areas. Solution: Clyde Companies pinpointed a recent IT infrastructure upgrade as a good opportunity to reexamine his data protection solution. While Clyde Solution-at-a-Glance for Clyde Companies, Inc. Challenges: Enhance operational efficiencies and lower IT infrastructure costs Accommodate growing data volume while retaining costs and complexity Increase reliability and stability of data backups Ensure that data can be accessed for backup without impacting the operation of the respective applications Solution: Symantec Backup Exec 10 for Windows Servers Symantec Backup Exec Advanced Open File Option, SAN Shared Storage Option, and Library Expansion Option Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Oracle on Windows Server and Backup Exec Agent for Exchange Server Benefits: 100% ROI in one year via cost avoidance and operational efficiency gains Accommodating 20% annual data volume growth without any increases in headcount

12 Companies had used Computer Associates BrightStor ARCserve software for a number of years, it had experienced some reliability problems in recent years. After examining Symantec Backup Exec 10 for Windows Servers, Clyde Companies decided to migrate its data protection software infrastructure to Symantec Backup Exec 10 on the basis that it would offer more consistent, reliable backups and restores and centralized administration. One of the most important considerations of Clyde Companies was to ensure complete protection even for data that was application locked. The right complement of agents and options included the Backup Exec Agent for Oracle on Windows Server and Backup Exec Agent for Exchange Server to ensure that data can be accessed for backup without impacting the operation of the respective applications. The company uses Backup Exec Advanced Open File Option in the same manner to access data locked by other applications. Working With once-a-day tape backups, the document version saved on tape can be as much as 24 hours out of date. Continuous, diskbased data protection based on Symantec Backup Exec 10 Continuous Protection Server offers us the ability to retrieve a previous version of the document in just seconds. Steve Wilson, IT Manager, Cincinnati Thermal Spray, Inc. together, the Backup Exec agents and option provide more reliable backups and contribute to high levels of availability for Clyde Companies. Experiencing continued data growth two terabytes at last count Clyde Companies uses Symantec Backup Exec SAN Shared Storage Option and Backup Exec Library Expansion Option for enhanced data management capabilities. Benefits: The Symantec Backup Exec 10 data protection solution, including the various its agents and options, allows Clyde Companies to meet its goal of managing its growing infrastructure with 20% annual growth in data volume without increasing staff. When this cost avoidance is coupled with operational efficiency gains, the data protection solution will allow Clyde Companies to realize 100% return on its investment in one year. Solution-at-a-Glance for Cincinnati Thermal Spray Challenges: Minimize IT support costs for four facilities Help ensure business continuity in the event of human error or natural disaster Support revision control for manufacturing documents Reduce reliance on IT by offering users selfservice file recovery Improve reliability of data protection for all locations with point-in-time recovery capability Solution: Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers with Agent for Microsoft SQL Server and Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server Server Benefits: 100% payback projected in six months via lower costs and enhanced productivity 94% reduction in IT staff time for monitoring backups 94% faster file restores

13 Cincinnati Thermal Spray, Inc. Organization Overview: Cincinnati Thermal Spray, Inc. ( provides coating services for corrosion resistance, enhanced durability, and other industrial applications. The company employs 130 people in four locations (Cincinnati, Ohio; Springfield, New Jersey; Houston, Texas; and Wilmington, North Carolina). Challenge: Seeking a streamlined IT infrastructure Cincinnati Thermal Spray embarked upon a strategy to migrate its server platform from Novell NetWare to Microsoft Windows Server. At the same time, Cincinnati Thermal Spray sought to replace its CA BrightStor ARCserve data protection software infrastructure, which was unreliable and difficult to administer. Solution: Cincinnati Thermal Spray migrated its data protection infrastructure to Symantec Backup Exec 9.1 across all of its servers, both local and remote, and configured the system for central monitoring from a single console. Seeking application aware data protection functionality, the manufacturer leveraged Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SQL Server and Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server. Cincinnati Thermal Spray extended its investment in Symantec Backup Exec in 2005 by implementing Server. In particular, the manufacturer wanted to enhance operational efficiencies and employee productivity by enabling end users to restore lost files. It also wanted to improve the effectiveness of its data protection processes through continuous data protection. Benefits: Backups and restores for Cincinnati Thermal Spray are much easier using Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server. On average, Cincinnati Thermal Spray estimates that it takes 15 minutes to restore corrupted or deleted files versus 1.5 hours previously, or a 94% reduction. Assuming an average of 4.5 restores each week and a base salary of $80,000, Cincinnati Thermal Spray is saving $3,000 in staff time annually. Overall, through enhanced productivity and lower costs, the company anticipates 100% payback in six months. Summary It takes many business applications to keep an organization operating efficiently. Some applications such as , database services, and office productivity systems are highly visible to the organization and are a vital link in helping to generate work output. Other applications, such as backup and restore processes, may be of equal or greater importance, but operate quietly in the background to protect and preserve the output being generated. Built on Symantec Backup Exec technology, Server delivers continuous disk-based data protection, combined with traditional data protection, to provide comprehensive disk-to-diskto-tape solution, protecting business critical files, databases, and applications in less time accommodating shrinking back up windows found in many organizations. Centralized administration provides scalable management of distributed backup and remote servers. IT administrators can view job status and alerts regarding continuous protection jobs from the Backup Exec console. Further, an intuitive interface and wizards simplify data protection and recovery procedures for any level user and any size network. IT administrators gain productivity and strategic project time because they no longer need to restore files. While productivity and resources continue to be a major focus for organizations of all sizes, Symantec Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server helps simplify management of many tasks allowing IT to manage more with less. 1 Osterman Research, The Great Question: Purge or Store?, November, Charles Garry, Downtime as a Business Expense, META Group, October 26,

14 E-Business Strategies (ebs) is a technology research and ROI consulting practice. E-Business Strategies, Inc. R&D for Next-Generation Solutions 4080 McGinnis Ferry Road Suite 603 Alpharetta, GA Phone: (00-1) Fax: (00-1) contact@ebstrategy.com Visit us on the Web: Since its inception, the company s focus has been on the 3C's Conceptualize, Communicate and Create. Known for our real-world experience, consultative style, and pragmatic approach, ebs provides strategic guidance to clients by delivering analysis, market research, white papers, and consulting services. ebs is committed to helping its clients overcome market challenges and improve their business practices. ebs specializes in e-business, mobile solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), offshore outsourcing, CRM, and Supply Chain processes and technology architecture. Focused on information technology enabled solutions, the company offers cutting-edge research, customized ROI consulting services, and innovative educational programs. ebs services are designed to give companies the ability to sense, adapt, and respond quickly to changes in the marketplace. The information contained in this report represents the current view of E-Business Strategies (ebs) on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. It should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of ebs or VERITAS, and ebs cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication