NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MIKE KARP
on STORAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE
10/25/01 - Today's focus: Companies worth investigating

Dear Wincenty Kaminski,

In this issue:

* What kinds of companies are worth looking at?
* Links related to storage
* Featured reader resource

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Today's focus: Companies worth investigating

By Mike Karp

Just what is a good working definition of Storage Resource
Management? As I pointed out last week, understanding a
vendor's definition of SRM goes a long way toward helping you
understand their approach to the technology and the value the
vendor can deliver.

Some companies don't lay out this information too well when
they visit prospective customers, either because they didn't
consider including it in their presentation, or (and this is
indicative of an entirely different type of company) they are
too focused on their technology for technology's sake.

Most of us shouldn't waste too much time on vendors that have
not thought about how they can help us - if they haven't taken
the time to understand our business needs, we probably
shouldn't take the time to listen to their needs.

We can perhaps be more generous to the other set of companies,
the group that often develops technology for technology's sake.
Those vendors are often young firms with ideas that are
exciting, new and frequently useful, but a reality check shows
that they need to realize (as has been so well pointed out in
the last few years), that this sort of business approach only
appeals to a very small segment of the market referred to as
"early adopters." It doesn't carry much weight with the rest
of us, the majority of whom need to see proven business values
to justify their expenditures.

Historically, new and relatively small companies have fallen
into this second category: it's the "two guys in a garage
syndrome." These days however, I see several that are getting
past the technology-first bias and seem to be making a real
effort to provide us with business solutions we can actually
use. Every few weeks I like to point out one or two of these
for you, on the theory that while what they do may not be right
for most of you, it will likely be of use to some of you. And
when they lay out their value propositions and identify their
approach to SRM, it is easy for you to calibrate what they are
bringing to the table.

This week's interesting find is TrelliSoft, a company out of
Glen Ellen, IL (http://www.trellisoft.com) that provides SRM
services across a number of platforms. Its Java-based architecture
potentially means a single solution to solving problems across
a number of operating systems. The problems Trellisoft addresses
include disk space optimization, quota enforcement, storage
chargeback and capacity planning.

One feature I particularly appreciated is its ability to
identify files NOT backed up, which can go a long way toward
eliminating surprises during the business day.

If you would derive value from these capabilities in your shop,
Trellisoft is probably worth a look.

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To contact Mike Karp:

Mike Karp is senior analyst with Enterprise Management
Associates (http://www.enterprisemanagement.com) in Boulder,
Colo., an analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively
on enterprise management. He works out of Portsmouth, N.H., and
Westboro, Mass., and can be reached via e-mail at
mailto:mkarp@enterprisemanagement.com
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RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

Archive of the Storage newsletter:
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/stor/index.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

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