vendor landscape: enterprise backup software - symantec

Info-Tech Research Group 1

Vendor Landscape: Enterprise Backup SoftwareFind out which vendors are backing up their claims and which ones are just duplicating past efforts.


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.

Introduction

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

This Research Is Designed For: This Research Will Help You:

Understand what’s new in the backup softwaremarket.

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.


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.

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 Insight


Market Overview

• 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 1990.

• 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).

• 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.

How it got here Where it’s going

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.”


Enterprise Backup Software Vendor Landscape selection criteria: Market share, mind share, and market consolidation

• CA Technologies. ArcServe has a venerable history going back as early as 1982. 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.

Included in the Vendor Landscape:

• 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.


Enterprise Backup Software Criteria & Weighting Factors

30%

20%20%

30%Features Architecture

AffordabilityUsability

50%

50%

Product

Vendor

Vendor Evaluation

Vendor is committed to the space and has a

future product and portfolio roadmap.Strategy

Vendor offers global coverage and is able to

sell and provide post-sales support. Reach

Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will

be around for the long term.Viability

Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the

channels themselves are strong. Channel

Product Evaluation

The solution’s dashboard and reporting tools

are intuitive and easy to use.Usability

The solution(s) leads technically, and is offered

as part of a larger data management portfolio.Architecture

The five year TCO of the solution is

economical.Affordability

The solution provides basic

and advanced feature/functionality.Features

30%

30%

15%

25%Viability Strategy

ReachChannel


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.


Every vendor has its strengths & weaknesses;Pick the one that works best for you

Product Vendor

Features UsabilityAfford-

abilityViability Strategy Channel

Microsoft1,2

EMC1,2

HP1,2

IBM

NetApp/Syncsort

CA Technologies

ReachArchi-

tecture

Symantec3

Overall Overall

For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Harvey Balls are calculated please see the slide entitled “Vendor Evaluation Methodology” in the appendix.

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

CommVault

3


What is a Value Score?

Symantec offers the best bang for your buck

Microsoft

0

HP

0

EMC

0

NetApp/

Syncsort

36

IBM

48

CommVault

48

CA

Tech-

nologies

85

Symantec

Backup

Exec

100Average Score: 39

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.

On a relative basis, Symantec

maintained the highest Info-Tech Value

ScoreTM of the vendor group. Vendors

were indexed against Symantec’s

performance to provide a complete,

relative view of their product offerings.

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.

Champion

1 Vendor declined to provide pricing information.

1 1 1


Table Stakes represent the minimum standard; without these a product doesn’t even get reviewed

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.

The products assessed in this Vendor

LandscapeTM 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.

The Table Stakes What Does This Mean?

Feature Description

Bare metal restore Server OS and data files can be restored to

dissimilar hardware.

Application

awareness

Application-specific agents exist to handle

requirements for target workloads, such as

Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, or SQL.

Compression Data can be compressed at the client or

media agent for overall data reduction.

Continuous data

protection (CDP)

Solution captures every write of protected

data such that recovery can be achieved to

any point in time.

Encryption Data can be encrypted to be sent “over the

wire” across the LAN.

File and image-level

backups

Physical machine image an be backed up,

as can individual data files.

Virtual machine & file

backup & restore

Backup and restore entire virtual machines

(VMs) or individual data within VMs only.


Advanced Features are the market differentiators that make or break a product

Feature What We Looked For

Source-based

deduplication

Data is deduplicated at the source/media server

before it is sent over the network to backup target.

Target-based

deduplication

Software can deduplicate data at the target device

using its own deduplication engine.

Global

deduplication

Duplicate data at separate backup nodes (e.g.

targets) is removed, leaving a single copy.

Dedupe to tape Dedupicated data can be backed up to tape and

restored without original source hardware.

Single-vendor

array integration

Integration with storage arrays from one vendor to

leverage snapshot capabilities of the array.

Multiple-vendor

array integration

Array integration is offered with all major storage

vendors (e.g. Dell, EMC, HDS, HP, IBM, NetApp).

Cloud backup Vendor offers backup to their own cloud offering.

VM discovery VMs are automatically discovered to be added to

and maintained in backup policies.

VM tracking Software sees VMs if migrated to new hardware.

VADP integration VMware APIs for Data Protection allow backup

tasks to run without agents installed on VMs.

Flexible licensing Per-host and capacity-based licensing options exist.

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.

Scoring Methodology


Legend = Feature fully present = Feature partially present / pending = Feature absent

Each vendor offers a different feature set; concentrate on what you need

CA

Technologies

CommVault

EMC

HP

IBM

Microsoft

NetApp/

Syncsort

Symantec

Source-

based

dedupe

Target-

based

dedupe

Dedupe

to tape

Cloud

backup

Global

dedupe

Flexible

licensingVADP

integration

VM discovery

Array

integration(Multiple

vendors)

Array

integration(One vendor)

VM tracking


$1

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.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Backup Exec & NetBackup

18,600+

Mountain View, CA

Symantec.com

1982

NASDAQ: SYMC

FY11 Revenue: $6.2B

Symantec continues to lead in market share numbers and is innovating in virtual machine protection capabilities

Champion• 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.

Overview

• 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.

Strengths

• While Symantec has a broad portfolio, integration of its

offerings is not as strong a point as with some competitors.

Challenges

3 Year TCO: Tier 5; between $25K and $50K

Price reflects Backup Exec

$1M+

http://www.symantec.com/


$1


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.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Simpana

1,300+

Oceanport, NJ

CommVault.com

1996

NASDAQ: CVLT

FY11 Revenue: $314.8M

CommVault Simpana offers ease of use and standout storage array integration

Champion

• 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.

Strengths

• 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.

Challenges

$1M+

• CommVault offers a comprehensive portfolio of data

management and compliance products beyond just data

protection, with advanced support for virtual backup.

Overview


http://www.commvault.com/


$1


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.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM)

436,000

Armonk, NY

IBM.com

1924

NASDAQ: IBM

FY10 Revenue: $99.8B

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager brings extreme scalability and a comprehensive feature set for physical and virtual backup

Champion

$1M+

• 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.

Overview

• 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.

Strengths

• Snapshots from Microsoft applications are supported on any

VSS compliant hardware, while on non-Windows systems,

non-IBM hardware requires SAN Volume Controller.

Challenges


http://www.ibm.com/


$1


Small to mid-sized enterprises on a budget should include ARCserve on their shortlist of vendors.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

ARCserve

13,200

Islandia, NY

ARCserve.com

1976

NASDAQ: CA

FY11 Revenue: $4.4B

CA Technologies offers easy-to-use software with standout reporting and capable virtual backup

Innovator

$1M+

• 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.

Overview

• 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.

Strengths

• ARCserve does not offer source deduplication.

• Snapshots are possible only for Windows applications on

VSS-compliant hardware.

Challenges


http://www.arcserve.com/


$1


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.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

NetApp Syncsort Integrated

Backup (NSB)

10,200+

Sunnyvale, CA

NetApp.com

1992

NASDAQ: NTAP

FY11 Revenue: $5.1B

NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup combines leading dedupeand replication in storage with easy-to-use backup software


$1M+

• 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.

Overview

• 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.

Strengths

• 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.

Challenges

Innovator

http://www.netapp.com/

http://www.netapp.com/us/


$1


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.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Avamar & NetWorker

48,500

Hopkinton, MA

EMC.com

1979

NASDAQ: EMC


EMC bring dominant source dedupe capabilities and strong VMware support in a broad backup and recovery portfolio

Market Pillar

$1M+

Pricing was not provided by the vendor.

• 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.

Overview

• 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.

Strengths

• 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.

Challenges

http://www.emc.com/


$1


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.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Data Protector

324,600

Palo Alto, CA

HP.com

1939

NASDAQ: HPQ


HP offers low-cost backup software with strong HP hardware integration

Emerging Player

$1M+


• 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.

Overview

• 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.

Strengths

• Deduplication is not natively supported, but requires additional

purchase of StoreOnce deduplication appliance.

• Lack of market and mind share has been an ongoing issue.

Challenges

http://www.hp.com/


$1


If you’re a small to medium-sized shop with a significant investment in Windows, DPM may be a cost-

effective option to meet your basic needs.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Data Protection Manager

90,400+

Redmond, WA

Microsoft.com

1975

NASDAQ: MSFT


Microsoft offers basic but affordable functionality for customers with a significant Microsoft investment

Emerging Player

$1M+


• 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.

Overview

• 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.

Strengths

• 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.

Challenges

http://www.microsoft.com/


The Info-Tech Enterprise Backup Software Vendor Shortlist Tool is designed

to generate a customized shortlist of vendors based on your key priorities.

Identify leading candidates with the Enterprise Backup Software Vendor Shortlist Tool

• 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

This tool offers the ability to modify:

http://www.infotech.com/research/it-backup-software-vendor-shortlist-tool


Organizations with significant investment in Windows servers, and little

reliance on Linux or proprietary platforms should consider these vendors.

Scenario: Homogeneous Windows Environments

Homogeneous

Environments

Heterogeneous

Environments

Cloud Integration

1

2

3

Exemplary Performers

Viable Performers

4

Backup ExecAvamar


Heterogeneous

Environments

Homogeneous

Environments

Large organizations that have requirements for multiple server types should

consider solutions that support multiple operating systems and applications.

Scenario: Heterogeneous Platform Environments

Cloud Integration

1

2

3

Exemplary Performers

Viable Performers

4

NetBackup

NetWorker


Homogeneous

Environments

Organizations looking for a vendor that can leverage the Cloud for archiving

or continuous data protection need look no further.

Scenario: Cloud Backup Support

Cloud Integration

Heterogeneous

Environments

1

2

Proprietary Cloud Storage

Microsoft Azure

3

Backup Exec.cloudAtmos

SmartCloud

Amazon Web Services

Also

supports:

Rackspace

EMC Atmos

Nirvanix

Mezeo

NetBackup also

supports Nirvanix


Appendix

1. Vendor Evaluation Methodology

2. Value Index Ranking Methodology

3. Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology


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.


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.


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 three-

year 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 34.56 TB of

undeduplicatied data at end of year three.

(continued on next slide)


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 2010

◦ 6 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)

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.

• MS SharePoint 2007

◦ 5 servers

– 2 front-end web services servers

– 2 back-end application servers

– Application servers are connected to 1 SQL Server 2005 SP4 database.

vendor landscape: enterprise backup software - symantec

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