Verizon enters disaster recovery storage market

Communications service provider Verizon has responded to the growing movement among companies to have disaster recovery provisions in place by teaming up with storage vendor EMC to resell EMC's storage systems and software with its own networking services as a complete business continuity solution.

A recent study by IDC said that the worldwide market for storage services is increasing by six percent annually, with spending on storage services expected to reach almost US$30 billion by 2007.

Much of the growth in this area has been triggered by the events of September 11, 2001, which did much to heighten awareness of the consequences of not having a proper disaster recovery plan in place.

Verizon will bundle its metropolitan networks and data networking capabilities with EMC's storage technologies, and sell them through its enterprise solutions group.

Edward McGuinness, senior vice president, marketing, Verizon Enterprise Solutions Group, said, "Information security, disaster recovery and business continuity continue to be primary concerns for many businesses today. Verizon's launch of EMC storage solutions is an important development since it meets pressing customer requirements for unparalleled business continuity and there is a large and growing market for this service."

"The demand for networked storage and services continues to grow as organisations seek to pull greater value from their resources and to protect their information with a consolidated infrastructure," said BJ Jenkins, EMC's vice president, telecommunications, media and entertainment. "Together, Verizon and EMC can help customers protect their information and simplify storage management while increasing productivity."

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