EMC Buys Avamar And Its De-Duplication Technology

November 3nd, 2006: EMC has whipped out its wallet again and plonked down US$165 million for enterprise data protection software developer Avamar technologies, adding its data de-duplication technology to its software stable.

EMC says that Avamar’s award winning backup and recovery software advances its core strengths in information protection and recovery management, and will accelerating the move from tape to disk-based recovery solutions.

“The overwhelming value proposition of backup-to-disk is getting stronger by the day,” says Mark Sorenson, EMC Senior Vice President, Information Management Software. “Most recently, the limitations of tape-based backup have inspired the creation of new technology such as data de-duplication to significantly alter the cost and efficiency equation for disk-based backup. Avamar is acknowledged as the industry's best at helping customers transcend the shortcomings of traditional tape-based methods, thereby accelerating the ongoing shift to disk as the de facto backup and recovery medium.”

“From the very beginning, we’ve had a clear vision of completely transforming how customers backup and protect their information,” says Ed Walsh, CEO of Avamar. “We were first to market with global data de-duplication technology, joining EMC will allow us to take our vision to the next level and accelerate adoption of this disruptive technology.”

Avamar says its software uses data de-duplication technology to backup data once, and only once, on a global basis. It identifies redundant data segments at the source, reducing the amount of network bandwidth used and data stored.

According to the agreement, Avamar will be integrated into EMC’s Storage Product Operations (SPO) group. The deal is an all cash transaction and is expected to be finalised over the next 30 days.

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