Vendor Landscape: Enterprise Backup Software

Transcription

1 Vendor Landscape: Enterprise Backup Software Find out which vendors are backing up their claims and which ones are just duplicating past efforts. Info-Tech Research Group 1

2 Introduction Backup is changing. Increased virtualization is making workloads denser, and array integration is blurring the lines between backup and continuous data protection. Understand these developments to match backup software to your backup and restore objectives at lowest possible cost. This Research Is Designed For: This Research Will Help You: CIOs and IT managers System administrators Business continuity and disaster recovery planners Organizations increasing virtualization by 20% of more in the last or next 18 months Organizations changing their backup architecture strategy Understand what s new in the backup software market. Evaluate backup software vendors and products for your enterprise needs. Determine which products are most appropriate for particular use cases and scenarios. Create a shortlist of backup software vendors and select which is the best fit. Info-Tech Research Group 2

3 Executive Summary Info-Tech evaluated eight competitors in the enterprise backup software market, including the following notable performers: Champions: CommVault Simpana leads with broad deduplication capabilities, array integration for snapshots, and complete feature set. Symantec demonstrates standout virtualization capabilities in both its enterprise-focused NetBackup and Backup Exec for SMEs. IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) offers a strong top-to-bottom feature set out of the box, including deduplication as a standard component, as well as strong hardware integration with IBM gear. Value Award: Symantec Backup Exec offers solid feature set standout virtual integration and deduplication capabilities, which are delivered at an extremely cost-effective price point relative to competitors. Innovation Award: NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup is an interesting solution that delivers extremely short backup windows and virtual restore times through tight integration with NetApp storage. Info-Tech Insight 1. Consider your overall requirements and existing investments Different vendors mean different strategies. Some vendors intend for their backup software to integrate with primary storage or disk backup targets, whereas others focus specifically on the software. 2. Understand your three-year virtualization roadmap Software capabilities for leveraging virtual snapshots from virtualization vendors can be extremely important if your organization plans to move virtualization into the production environment. However, if you re planning to keep it in test and dev, these capabilities can be overkill. 3. Understand your environment Feature-rich and cost-effective solutions exist for Windows environments, but will be untenable for those with heterogeneous environments. Info-Tech Research Group 3

4 Market Overview How it got here Enterprise backup software has a long history. Many of the current leading vendor offerings originated in the 1990s and years previous. Example: EMC NetWorker debuted as Legato NetWorker for Unix in Where some software s background was the Unix server environment, others were born from the need to backup Windows PCs and fledgling Windows servers later in the 90s. Beyond backing up files and data sets, system imaging capturing a complete image of a configured server for bare metal restore after a system failure also emerged as a backup capability. Backup software was originally focused on backing up data from internal hard drives to internal and external tape drives and libraries. With advances in disk arrays, backup has broadened to include networked storage for both the host and the backup target (disk to disk). Where it s going More integration with hardware: Integration between backup software and storage arrays will continue to deepen. Symantec, for example, now has its own backup target hardware. Syncsort is now 100% focused on selling its software in conjunction with integrated arrays from Netapp. Dedupe dedupe everywhere: The data explosion, and the relative cost of disk being higher than tape, mean that deduplication technologies will be fundamental to future advances in backup. Dedupe squeezes time and boosts value by shrinking the size of the backup and the disk required. To the Cloud! Options will grow: Another way to reduce costs of the backup target is to replace it with external cloud-based storage. This does not eliminate cost but, rather, shifts it from a capital to more predictable operating expense. Backup is boring because it is a background function that supports foreground business-enabling processes. It only becomes interesting if it fails. The value of backup remains in its ability to shorten restore time and reduce data loss. Vendors are meeting challenges such as virtualization and data growth to keep backup from getting interesting. Info-Tech Research Group 4

5 Enterprise Backup Software Vendor Landscape selection criteria: Market share, mind share, and market consolidation There are many major backup vendors in the market, but market share is dominated by Symantec, and to a lesser extent EMC and IBM, with CommVault picking up steam as a result of significant marketing investment in the last year. For this Vendor Landscape, Info-Tech focused on those vendors that have a strong market presence and/or reputational presence among small to mid-sized enterprises. Included in the Vendor Landscape: CA Technologies. ArcServe has a venerable history going back as early as CA has a smaller market share and targets small and midmarket customers. Known for ease of setup and a strong partnership with VMware. CommVault. Strong pure play vendor with archiving and e-discovery solutions, CommVault Simpana is known for ease of integration, virtual backup, and ease of use with a respectable and increasing market share. EMC. Has strong market share and a comprehensive portfolio through acquisitions of Avamar for midrange software (2006), Data Domain (for disk backup, 2009), and Berkeley Data Systems (for cloud backup, 2007). HP. An extremely cost-effective solution with claim of 70% cost reduction relative to competitors; its limited mind share as a standalone product means most implementations come from existing HP clients or bundled offerings. IBM. Second in market share, IBM has a highly scalable product and strong domain expertise. While not an industry trend-setter, IBM is typically a fast follower in advanced features and functionality. Microsoft. While Microsoft does not have a strong market presence for backup software, it can be a good choice for small shops that have an exclusive investment in Microsoft. NetApp/Syncsort. Known for its presence in primary storage space, NetApp has carved a niche in the market by partnering with Syncsort and leveraging its data protection capabilities. Symantec. Market leader that has dominant market share with both its BackupExec and NetBackup offerings. Symantec is known for its strong developer support bringing enterprise features to SMB customers. Info-Tech Research Group 5

6 Enterprise Backup Software Criteria & Weighting Factors Product Evaluation Features The solution provides basic and advanced feature/functionality. Features 30% 30% Architecture Affordability The five year TCO of the solution is economical. Usability 20% 20% Affordability Usability Architecture Vendor Evaluation Viability The solution s dashboard and reporting tools are intuitive and easy to use. The solution(s) leads technically, and is offered as part of a larger data management portfolio. Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will be around for the long term. Product 50% 50% Vendor Strategy Vendor is committed to the space and has a future product and portfolio roadmap. Viability 25% 30% Strategy Reach Channel Vendor offers global coverage and is able to sell and provide post-sales support. Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the channels themselves are strong. Channel 15% 30% Reach Info-Tech Research Group 6

7 The Info-Tech Enterprise Backup Software Vendor Landscape Champions receive high scores for most evaluation criteria and offer excellent value. They have a strong market presence and are usually the trend setters for the industry. Innovators have demonstrated innovative product strengths that act as their competitive advantage in appealing to niche segments of the market. Market Pillars are established players with very strong vendor credentials, but with more average product scores. Emerging players are newer vendors who are starting to gain a foothold in the marketplace. They balance product and vendor attributes, though score lower relative to market Champions. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape is created please see the slide entitled Vendor Evaluation Methodology in the appendix. Info-Tech Research Group 7

8 Every vendor has its strengths & weaknesses; Pick the one that works best for you Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Affordability Architecture Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel CA Technologies CommVault EMC 1,2 HP 1,2 IBM Microsoft 1,2 NetApp/Syncsort Symantec 3 3 Legend =Exemplary = Good = Adequate =Inadequate = Poor 1 Vendor declined to brief with Info-Tech. 2 Vendor declined to provide pricing information. 3 Pricing reflects Symantec Backup Exec For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Harvey Balls are calculated please see the slide entitled Vendor Evaluation Methodology in the appendix. Info-Tech Research Group 8

9 Symantec offers the best bang for your buck What is a Value Score? The Value Score indexes each vendor s product offering and business strength relative to their price point. It does not indicate vendor ranking. Vendors that score high offer more bang for the buck (e.g. features, usability, stability, etc.) than the average vendor, while the inverse is true for those that score lower. Price-conscious enterprises may wish to give the Value Score more consideration than those who are more focused on specific vendor/product attributes. 100 Champion 85 On a relative basis, Symantec maintained the highest Info-Tech Value Score TM of the vendor group. Vendors were indexed against Symantec s performance to provide a complete, relative view of their product offerings. Average Score: Symantec Backup Exec CA Technologies CommVault IBM NetApp/ Syncsort EMC HP Microsoft 1 Vendor declined to provide pricing information. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Value Index is calculated please see the slide entitled Value Index Ranking Methodology in the appendix. For an explanation of how normalized pricing is determined please see the slide entitled Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology in the appendix. Info-Tech Research Group 9

10 Table Stakes represent the minimum standard; without these a product doesn t even get reviewed The Table Stakes Feature Bare metal restore Application awareness Compression Continuous data protection (CDP) Encryption File and image-level backups Virtual machine & file backup & restore Description Server OS and data files can be restored to dissimilar hardware. Application-specific agents exist to handle requirements for target workloads, such as Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, or SQL. Data can be compressed at the client or media agent for overall data reduction. Solution captures every write of protected data such that recovery can be achieved to any point in time. Data can be encrypted to be sent over the wire across the LAN. Physical machine image an be backed up, as can individual data files. Backup and restore entire virtual machines (VMs) or individual data within VMs only. What Does This Mean? The products assessed in this Vendor Landscape TM meet, at the very least, the requirements outlined as Table Stakes. Many of the vendors go above and beyond the outlined Table Stakes, some even do so in multiple categories. This section aims to highlight the products capabilities in excess of the criteria listed here. If Table Stakes are all you need from your backup solution, the only true differentiator for the organization is price. Otherwise, dig deeper to find the best price to value for your needs. Info-Tech Research Group 10

11 Advanced Features are the market differentiators that make or break a product Scoring Methodology Advanced Features Info-Tech scored each vendor s features offering as a summation of their individual scores across the listed advanced features. Vendors were given one point for each feature the product inherently provided. Some categories were scored on a more granular scale with vendors receiving half points. Feature Source-based deduplication Target-based deduplication Global deduplication Dedupe to tape Single-vendor array integration Multiple-vendor array integration Cloud backup VM discovery VM tracking VADP integration Flexible licensing What We Looked For Data is deduplicated at the source/media server before it is sent over the network to backup target. Software can deduplicate data at the target device using its own deduplication engine. Duplicate data at separate backup nodes (e.g. targets) is removed, leaving a single copy. Dedupicated data can be backed up to tape and restored without original source hardware. Integration with storage arrays from one vendor to leverage snapshot capabilities of the array. Array integration is offered with all major storage vendors (e.g. Dell, EMC, HDS, HP, IBM, NetApp). Vendor offers backup to their own cloud offering. VMs are automatically discovered to be added to and maintained in backup policies. Software sees VMs if migrated to new hardware. VMware APIs for Data Protection allow backup tasks to run without agents installed on VMs. Per-host and capacity-based licensing options exist. Info-Tech Research Group 11

12 Each vendor offers a different feature set; concentrate on what you need Sourcebased dedupe Targetbased dedupe Global dedupe Dedupe to tape Array integration (One vendor) Array integration (Multiple vendors) Cloud backup VM discovery VM tracking VADP integration Flexible licensing CA Technologies CommVault EMC HP IBM Microsoft NetApp/ Syncsort Symantec Legend = Feature fully present = Feature partially present / pending = Feature absent Info-Tech Research Group 12

13 Symantec continues to lead in market share numbers and is innovating in virtual machine protection capabilities Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: $1 Backup Exec & NetBackup 18,600+ Mountain View, CA Symantec.com 1982 NASDAQ: SYMC FY11 Revenue: $6.2B $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 5; between $25K and $50K Price reflects Backup Exec Overview Symantec is the largest provider of security software in the world and market share leader in the backup software market, with a broader portfolio including integrated archiving, deduplication, and virtual machine protection. Strengths Strong virtualization integration with VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V, allowing admins to see files, applications, and databases within VMDK or VHD files, and enabling file restores without requiring staging to disk. To simplify deployment and management, Symantec offers backup as a software-only or appliance-based option and uniquely priced software and hardware separately to allow customers to capitalize on existing licenses. Info-Tech clients have praised Symantec for its monitoring and reporting capabilities. Challenges While Symantec has a broad portfolio, integration of its offerings is not as strong a point as with some competitors. Info-Tech Recommends: Backup Exec is a cost effective solution for organizations with homogeneous Windows environments, whereas NetBackup is suited to diverse data centers focused on providing broad application support. Info-Tech Research Group 13

14 CommVault Simpana offers ease of use and standout storage array integration Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: $1 Simpana 1,300+ Oceanport, NJ CommVault.com 1996 NASDAQ: CVLT FY11 Revenue: $314.8M $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 7; between $100K and $250K Overview CommVault offers a comprehensive portfolio of data management and compliance products beyond just data protection, with advanced support for virtual backup. Strengths CommVault maintains a strong reputation for customer support and ease of use, with a common code base and single pane of glass for all products in its portfolio. Array integration for script-free snapshot control remains a standout feature of Simpana, as CommVault has continued to add to its list of supported products from major vendors. Support for array-based replication on NetApp FAS systems is also supported through an OEM agreement. Successful introduction of capacity-based licensing option in 2011, helped simplify customers backup budgeting. Challenges CommVault will look to improve on its market share,and maintain its strong mindshare developed through an aggressive marketing push in the past few years. Info-Tech Recommends: With exceptional marks for ease of use and hardware integration, CommVault is worth a look for organizations looking to get all the bells and whistles with minimized management overhead. Info-Tech Research Group 14

15 IBM Tivoli Storage Manager brings extreme scalability and a comprehensive feature set for physical and virtual backup Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: $1 Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) 436,000 Armonk, NY IBM.com 1924 NASDAQ: IBM FY10 Revenue: $99.8B $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 7; between $100K and $250K Overview A worldwide leader in IT hardware, software, and services, and number two in market share, IBM has a strong history in backup, pioneering disk-to-disk backup, and the fully incremental approach to backup window management. Strengths Extremely good scalability, with most recent release enabling a single TSM server to manage up to four billion objects. Recent release of TSM for Virtual Environments (VE) supports recovery of individual files from within VMs, non-disruptive snapshots at the VM level, and instant restore that allows a guest to access a volume while the volume is being recovered. Broad support for a variety of operating systems, on hardware ranging from servers and laptops to mainframes. Improved ease of use with more intuitive and comprehensive reporting, and integrated monitoring of multiple TSM products. Challenges Snapshots from Microsoft applications are supported on any VSS compliant hardware, while on non-windows systems, non-ibm hardware requires SAN Volume Controller. Info-Tech Recommends: While TSM is traditionally thought of as backup software for the large enterprise, IBM appears to be focusing efforts on improving usability to make the solution accessible to leaner IT staffs. Info-Tech Research Group 15

16 CA Technologies offers easy-to-use software with standout reporting and capable virtual backup Innovator Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: $1 ARCserve 13,200 Islandia, NY ARCserve.com 1976 NASDAQ: CA FY11 Revenue: $4.4B $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 5; between $25K and $50K Overview CA Technologies delivers a family of products targeted at small to mid-sized clients, including D2D, Replication, and High Availability, that are available as stand alone products or in combination as a unified solution. Strengths ARCserve has traditionally been known for its ease-of-use, set up, and standout dashboarding, reporting, and infrastructure visualization capabilities. CA Technologies strong VMware and Microsoft partnerships put it among leading vendors in supporting virtual environments for Windows shops, with VADP integration for VMware and VSS integration for Hyper-V, and recovery of files within virtual machines without requiring staging to disk. CA Technologies recently announced support for backup to public cloud for remote data protection and archiving. Challenges ARCserve does not offer source deduplication. Snapshots are possible only for Windows applications on VSS-compliant hardware. Info-Tech Recommends: Small to mid-sized enterprises on a budget should include ARCserve on their shortlist of vendors. Info-Tech Research Group 16

17 NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup combines leading dedupe and replication in storage with easy-to-use backup software Innovator Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: $1 NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup (NSB) 10,200+ Sunnyvale, CA NetApp.com 1992 NASDAQ: NTAP FY11 Revenue: $5.1B $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 8; between $250K and $500K Overview Syncsort began as a mainframe sorting company in the late 1960s, broadening to the open systems backup software market in the 1990s with Backup Express (BEX). Now focuses on tight integration with NetApp, a leading storage vendor. Strengths Strong NetApp and VMware integration allows organizations to maintain extremely short backup windows. Offers exceptional virtual restore capabilities with many available methods to recover VMs (or files within VMs) for restore times of minutes by leveraging NetApp snapshots. All backups are in native (not proprietary) format and a full catalog spans disk and tape for wildcard search and restore. Strong partnership with NetApp allows Syncsort Data Protection Software to leverage disk features as they appear. Ease of use a strong point, with a simplified GUI. Challenges While Syncsort Data Protection Software can function with third-party storage, to fully capitalize on the software s standout features, at least two NetApp filers are required. Info-Tech Recommends: Organizations looking for strong integration between hardware and software to generate short backup windows and ease of use should look to NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup. Info-Tech Research Group 17

18 EMC bring dominant source dedupe capabilities and strong VMware support in a broad backup and recovery portfolio Market Pillar Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: $1 Avamar & NetWorker 48,500 Hopkinton, MA EMC.com 1979 NASDAQ: EMC FY10 Revenue: $17.0B $1M+ Pricing was not provided by the vendor. Overview Number three in backup software market share, EMC has a strong backup, recovery and deduplication portfolio across both hardware, with Data Domain appliances, and software, with Avamar and NetWorker. Strengths EMC s majority ownership of VMware ensures that NetWorker and Avamar customers get up-to-date support for virtualization. Most recent release adds Data Domain deduplication storage integration for improved deduplication (leveraging DD Boost technology) and flexibility around where backups are directed for application-specific best practices and workload attributes. Avamar Data Store offers simplified deployment through a preconfigured appliance shipped with Avamar software; scales from 1.3TB to 124TB of deduplicated usable capacity. Challenges Target deduplication is not natively supported, but instead relies on capabilities of target devices, such as Data Domain. Modular products are not always manageable from a single UI. Info-Tech Recommends: Mid-sized and large enterprises should consider Avamar for its strong virtualization and data reduction capabilities, while large enterprises with heterogeneous platform requirements should look at NetWorker. Info-Tech Research Group 18

19 HP offers low-cost backup software with strong HP hardware integration Emerging Player Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Data Protector 324,600 Palo Alto, CA HP.com 1939 NASDAQ: HPQ FY11 Revenue: $127.2B Overview HP is a formidable desktop, servers, and storage company with a strong lineup of consolidated network storage systems, new deduplication backup options, and a respectable backup software offering in Data Protector. Strengths HP offers an affordable price, and claims they can save customers up to 70% in total TCO over competitive solutions. Data Protector offers strong integration with HP hardware, such as snapshots with HP 3Par, EVA and P9000 array, and deduplication with StoreOnce D2D systems. Data Protector Reporter software enhances DP reporting and management functionality, such as capacity planning, root cause and impact analysis, and drill down capabilities for tuning and troubleshooting of performance issues. $1 $1M+ Pricing was not provided by the vendor. Challenges Deduplication is not natively supported, but requires additional purchase of StoreOnce deduplication appliance. Lack of market and mind share has been an ongoing issue. Info-Tech Recommends: Data Protector s most obvious plus is ease of integration with HP hardware, putting it at the top of the shortlist for HP shops or those also considering large scale hardware purchases. Info-Tech Research Group 19

20 Microsoft offers basic but affordable functionality for customers with a significant Microsoft investment Emerging Player Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: $1 Data Protection Manager 90,400+ Redmond, WA Microsoft.com 1975 NASDAQ: MSFT FY11 Revenue: $69.9B $1M+ Pricing was not provided by the vendor. Overview Data Protection Manager is a backup solution that is typically deployed within Microsoft s System Center family of products for managing both physical and virtual aspect of Windows Environments. Strengths Support for Microsoft Hyper-V is a strength, capitalizing on existing pioneering capabilities of Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for snapshotting changed blocks within VMs. Familiarity for IT administrators is a plus, as most have experience with the Windows Server System interface from other Windows products, which limits training requirements. While DPM is really geared toward smaller Windows-only shops, it scales reasonably well, with a DPM server capable of backing up 100 servers. DPM is a cost-effective option for Windows shops. Challenges Microsoft does not offer source, target, or global deduplication. DPM lags behind competitors in failing to provide a single console to manage all DPM instances. Info-Tech Recommends: If you re a small to medium-sized shop with a significant investment in Windows, DPM may be a costeffective option to meet your basic needs. Info-Tech Research Group 20

21 Identify leading candidates with the Enterprise Backup Software Vendor Shortlist Tool The Info-Tech Enterprise Backup Software Vendor Shortlist Tool is designed to generate a customized shortlist of vendors based on your key priorities. This tool offers the ability to modify: Overall Vendor vs. Product Weightings Top-level weighting of product vs. vendor criteria Individual product criteria weightings: Features Usability Affordability Architecture Individual vendor criteria weightings: Viability Strategy Reach Channel Info-Tech Research Group 21

22 Scenario: Homogeneous Windows Environments Organizations with significant investment in Windows servers, and little reliance on Linux or proprietary platforms should consider these vendors. 1 Homogeneous Environments Exemplary Performers Avamar Backup Exec 2 Heterogeneous Environments 3 Cloud Integration Viable Performers 4 Info-Tech Research Group 22

23 Scenario: Heterogeneous Platform Environments Large organizations that have requirements for multiple server types should consider solutions that support multiple operating systems and applications. 1 Homogeneous Environments Exemplary Performers NetBackup 2 Heterogeneous Environments NetWorker 3 Cloud Integration Viable Performers 4 Info-Tech Research Group 23

24 Scenario: Cloud Backup Support Organizations looking for a vendor that can leverage the Cloud for archiving or continuous data protection need look no further. 1 2 Homogeneous Environments Heterogeneous Environments Proprietary Cloud Storage Atmos Microsoft Azure Backup Exec.cloud NetBackup also supports Nirvanix SmartCloud 3 Cloud Integration Amazon Web Services Also supports: Rackspace EMC Atmos Nirvanix Mezeo Info-Tech Research Group 24

25 Appendix 1. Vendor Evaluation Methodology 2. Value Index Ranking Methodology 3. Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology Info-Tech Research Group 25

26 Vendor Evaluation Methodology Info-Tech Research Group s Vendor Landscape market evaluations are a part of a larger program of vendor evaluations, which includes Solution Sets that provide both Vendor Landscapes and broader Selection Advice. From the domain experience of our analysts, as well as through consultation with our clients, a vendor/product shortlist is established. Product briefings are requested from each of these vendors, asking for information on the company, products, technology, customers, partners, sales models, and pricing. Our analysts then score each vendor and product across a variety of categories, on a scale of 0-10 points. The raw scores for each vendor are then normalized to the other vendors scores to provide a sufficient degree of separation for a meaningful comparison. These scores are then weighted according to weighting factors that our analysts believe represent the weight that an average client should apply to each criteria. The weighted scores are then averaged for each of two high-level categories: vendor score and product score. A plot of these two resulting scores is generated to place vendors in one of four categories: Champion, Innovator, Market Pillar, and Emerging Player. For a more granular category-by-category comparison, analysts convert the individual scores (absolute, non-normalized) for each vendor/product in each evaluated category to a scale of zero to four whereby exceptional performance receives a score of four and poor performance receives a score of zero. These scores are represented with Harvey Balls, ranging from an open circle for a score of zero to a filled in circle for a score of four. Harvey Ball scores are indicative of absolute performance by category, but are not an exact correlation to overall performance. Individual scorecards are then sent to the vendors for factual review, and to ensure no information is under embargo. We will make corrections where factual errors exist (e.g. pricing, features, technical specifications). We will consider suggestions concerning benefits, functional quality, value, etc; however, these suggestions must be validated by feedback from our customers. We do not accept changes that are not corroborated by actual client experience or wording changes that are purely part of a vendor s market messaging or positioning. Any resulting changes to final scores are then made as needed, before publishing the results to Info-Tech clients. Vendor Landscapes are refreshed every 12 to 24 months, depending upon the dynamics of each individual market. Info-Tech Research Group 26

27 Value Index Ranking Methodology Info-Tech Research Group s Value Index is part of a larger program of vendor evaluations that includes Solution Sets that provide both Vendor Landscapes and broader Selection Advice. The Value Index is an indexed ranking of value per dollar as determined by the raw scores given to each vendor by analysts. To perform the calculation, Affordability is removed from the Product score and the entire Product category is reweighted to represent the same proportions. The Product and Vendor scores are then summed, and multiplied by the Affordability raw score to come up with Value Score. Vendors are then indexed to the highest performing vendor by dividing their score into that of the highest scorer, resulting in an indexed ranking with a top score of 100 assigned to the leading vendor. The Value Index calculation is then repeated on the raw score of each category against Affordability, creating a series of indexes for Features, Usability, Viability, Strategy, and Support, with each being indexed against the highest score in that category. The results for each vendor are displayed in tandem with the average score in each category to provide an idea of over and under performance. The Value Index, where applicable, is refreshed every 12 to 24 months, depending upon the dynamics of each individual market. Info-Tech Research Group 27

28 Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology Info-Tech Research Group provided each vendor with a common pricing scenario to enable normalized scoring of Affordability, calculation of Value Index rankings, and identification of the appropriate solution pricing tier as displayed on each vendor scorecard. Vendors were asked to provide list costs for enterprise backup software and/or software licensing to address the needs of a reference organization described in the pricing scenario. For non-appliance solutions (i.e., software-only and virtual appliance architectures), physical or virtual hardware requirements were requested in support of comparing as-installed costs. Additional consulting, deployment, and training services were explicitly out of scope of the pricing request, as was the cost of enhanced support options, though vendors were encouraged to highlight any such items included with the base product acquisition. The annual software/hardware maintenance rate was also requested, along with clarity on whether or not the first year of maintenance was included in the quoted appliance/software costs, allowing a three-year total acquisition cost to be calculated for each vendor s backup software. This threeyear total acquisition cost is the basis of the solution pricing tier indicated for each vendor. Finally, the vendors three-year total acquisition costs were normalized to produce the Affordability raw scores and calculate Value Index ratings for each solution. Key elements of the common pricing scenario: The following is a simplification of an Info-Tech client s infrastructure. The company is considering a green field purchase of new backup software, and would like quotations from the leading vendors in the market. Capacity All said and done, the organization has approximately 20 TB of raw undeduplicated data and is growing at a rate of 20% per year of raw undeduplicated data. The solution must be sufficient to support their infrastructure until at least the end of the 3 three-year term. For the purposes of this scenario assume that, based on a compound increase of 20% per year, the organization will have TB of undeduplicatied data at end of year three. (continued on next slide) Info-Tech Research Group 28

29 Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology continued Physical Servers The organization has 6 servers for Exchange (see below), 5 servers for SharePoint (including 1 SQL database, see below), as well as 4 physical servers for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit), for a total of 20 physical servers. MS Exchange servers 2 front-end client access services servers 2 back-end mailbox servers 2 Blackberry enterprise services servers Virtual Servers The organization has 5 host servers (2 each with 2 Physical CPUs & 12 cores, and 3 each with 2 Physical CPUs & 8 cores, for 48 cores total) running a VMware virtual infrastructure on ESX4.1, structured in a single ESX cluster running 38 virtual machines supporting Microsoft Windows Server 2003/2008. Windows servers 2003/2008 (virtual machines - 27 total) 13XMicrosoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) 8XMicrosoft Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) 4XMicrosoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit) 2XMicrosoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (64-bit) MS SharePoint servers 2 front-end web services servers 2 back-end application servers Application servers are connected to 1 SQL Server 2005 SP4 database. Storage All servers are connected to a SAN/unified storage device from another vendor (e.g. Dell Compellent). Basic Features The organization also requires compression, CDP, encryption, file and image-level backups, VM, and file backup & restore. Info-Tech Research Group 29