NetApp Brings Enterprise-Class Agility to the Midsize Enterprise and Leapfrogs Competition in Simplicity

IDC forecasts that the Midsize Enterprise (MSE) external disk storage systems market will grow to $6.0B in 2011, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.9%, which is almost twice as fast as the overall market1. While demands on the MSE to increase storage capacity are tremendous, the typical Midsize Enterprise faces a pricey dilemma of how to manage and protect all that data without a corresponding increase in headcount. To help customers solve this dilemma — and with an expanded focus on the MSE market — Network Appliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) today unveiled the NetApp® FAS2000 product line — the FAS2020 and FAS2050 — and new deployment and auditing services designed to help simplify data management and maximize existing IT investments. Today NetApp brings the market a paradigm-shifting, enterprise-class storage technology that easily scales to help MSE customers maximize their data infrastructures while minimizing complexity, overhead, and technical staffing costs. The MSE, as NetApp defines it, manages dozens of servers, has $50 million to $500 million in annual revenue, and supports the storage needs of anywhere between 100 and 1,000 employees. The size and scope of these businesses pose several challenges. The first is that they rely on their IT departments — normally staffed by an IT "generalist” who needs to be a jack-of-all-trades — to keep the business running, and, by default, keep employees productive. These generalists normally can’t invest time to tighten integration between major applications and the storage platform. The other challenge is the necessity to reduce overall costs by fully optimizing IT assets. And, finally, these companies are changing and growing constantly. They require an infrastructure that easily expands and scales. Agility is not a luxury, but a means to survival. NetApp MSE solutions, and the FAS2020 and FAS2050, which support all major protocols, empower the MSE to address these challenges. Easier Deployment and Management — the Move to Networked Storage The architectural simplicity of all NetApp storage systems, and the new FAS2000 series in particular, allows customers to readily consolidate direct attached storage (DAS) into a single networked solution and scale on demand. NetApp uniquely empowers IT managers to rapidly provision new datasets without labor-intensive, time-consuming, and disruptive hardware reconfiguration. By simply pooling storage, NetApp lets customers logically allocate data resources as needed. For the MSE, the ability to speed the overall provisioning process means an accelerated ability to control changing environments and adapt rapidly to new business opportunities and challenges. Increased Business Uptime — Storage Is Mission Critical The FAS2000 series, with NetApp Data ONTAP® software, provides customers with point-in-time copies of any application set, whether it’s an Oracle® database, a Microsoft® Exchange e-mail, or file-based storage. This powerful capability means that system administrators can restore data in minutes or seconds instead of hours. Simplifying the backup and restore operation for the Midsize Enterprise is a huge value for an IT generalist. Improved Cost — Simplified Data Management and Better Utilization NetApp is helping the MSE make better use of its existing IT and storage assets. The FAS2000 solution, coupled with powerful NetApp data management software and technologies, helps protect customers’ application data with Snapshot™ technology and RAID-DP™ (RAID 6) technology, avoid duplicating redundant data with A-SIS technology, accelerate cloning with NetApp FlexClone® software, and gain thin provisioning capabilities with FlexVol® thin provisioning software. NetApp also helps contain IT manpower expense. By providing application-centric data management software, including NetApp SnapManager® for Exchange, Oracle, SAP®, SharePoint®, and SQL Server™, NetApp makes it easier for customers to provision, back up and restore, and archive data, and implement disaster recovery, providing savings that manifest in better use of employees’ time. Cost-Effective Server and Storage Consolidation — the Time Is Now A burgeoning issue for all IT managers is server and storage consolidation. The ability to virtually consolidate servers — and storage — helps customers make the most of their IT infrastructure. Consolidation manifests itself in reduced power, cooling, and floor space. The market is a-buzz with the entry of solutions from VMware and other virtualization players. These solutions finally make server consolidation practical. Now is an opportune time to go one step further to also consolidate storage environments and to make the move from a direct attached storage model to a networked storage structure. "Although the typical MSE may have fewer IT resources than its large enterprise counterparts, it generally needs to address the same issues: managing dynamic data needs, contending with serious growing pains, and grappling with how to best prepare for unknowns,” said Brad Nisbet, program manager at IDC. "Solutions such as the FAS2000 will help these midsize companies deal with the demands of backup, disaster recovery, and server consolidation, all within the constraints of limited budget and lack of 'storage specialists.'” Allied Cash Holdings, a Payday Advance Company, recently deployed the FAS2020 in a VMware environment to upgrade its storage infrastructure and add enterprise-class functionality, such as cloning with NetApp FlexClone software, to keep up with its business needs and data growth — with limited budget and manpower. "It’s critical that Allied Cash can easily scale new servers quicker and more efficiently than the traditional installation method as our company grows — and that we have a solution that allows us to easily manage and protect our corporate data and virtual server infrastructure,” said Dave DePillis, manager of IT Operations at Allied Cash Holdings. "ATEC Group, the VAR we turned to for help with this project, gave a live demo of the new FAS2020, showcasing the solution's ease-of-use and enterprise-class functionality accompanied with VMware. We were sold immediately when seeing the power of FlexClone and what it could do with our virtual environment. We also worked out the savings we’d achieve long-term and decided to go with NetApp. Additionally, the expandability of extra SATA or FC shelves allows for future expandability. NetApp lives up to its promise to simplify data management with this product introduction.” Another FAS2000 customer, RMT, Inc., a full-service consulting firm dedicated to delivering best-in-class environmental and energy solutions, turned to its reseller, Berbee, to consolidate its direct-attached storage (DAS) environment and set the stage for easily consolidating its server environment. RMT selected a NetApp FAS2020 for its iSCSI environment to manage the demanding storage needs of its computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling applications. These applications are used to improve the performance of coal-fired boilers and reduce NOx emissions from power plants. "Our CFD modeling staff was struggling to keep up with its rapidly growing storage needs. The NetApp storage solution helps us easily manage our data and leverage the powerful data management capabilities that the world’s largest enterprises benefit from — especially for backup and recovery,” said John Saley, IT Architect at RMT. "NetApp was the sweet spot — simple yet scalable. The NetApp FAS2020 was a no-brainer for us.” "The single most important benefit NetApp offers customers with these new solutions and services is the ability to accomplish more with fewer resources — particularly in terms of headcount,” said Tom Georgens, executive vice president, NetApp. "At the end of the day, if customers turn their expensive, legacy DAS infrastructure into a cost-effective networked storage model — and see hard-dollar savings from backup, deduplication, disaster recovery, and storage utilization — they’re well-prepared to handle any growing pains that come their way. We're thrilled to once again trump our competition in terms of ease-of-use with the industry’s most flexible Midsize Enterprise solution.” New Deployment and Auditing Services NetApp is offering two services, delivered by NetApp Global Services (NGS) and the NetApp Service Partner Network, for new and existing customers. Customers and partners new to NetApp now have a Rapid Deployment Service to set up and configure new systems. This fixed-price service helps to make sure that Snapshot capabilities are fully integrated with all applications, including Exchange, Oracle, and SQL Server. Once systems are up and running, there is also a Storage Availability Audit service, which is part of a larger refresh of the NetApp SupportEdge portfolio. The Storage Availability Audit service helps customers take full advantage of the capabilities that are already built into their systems to make the most of their storage environment. The NetApp SupportEdge portfolio refresh also includes Premium AutoSupport, to provide configuration planning and management tools for customers who want to optimize their storage performance to better meet the expectations of today’s typical MSE customers — at an MSE price point. Visit www.netapp.com/support for more information about NetApp Global Services and its new offerings. In related news, IBM is reselling NetApp FAS2000 systems as the rebranded IBM N3000 systems. "Today's announcement is a natural fit and logical extension to IBM’s product and solution portfolio. The innovative nature of NetApp continues to complement the innovative legacy IBM is recognized for worldwide,” said Charlie Andrews, director of System Storage Product Marketing, IBM. "The N series provides our customers with the ability to easily grow and better manage their data. NetApp and IBM are providing customers with an enterprise-class advantage that addresses key concerns about long-term costs, scalability, and ease-of-use.” Pricing and Availability All customer pricing for products described in this press release is available from NetApp sales or reseller partners. Podcast, Webcast, and Technical Information Join NetApp on September 18 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT (2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET) for a live Webcast that will feature proven best practices and solutions that enable MSE customers to consolidate existing IT infrastructures and increase storage utilization by 50%. Visit http://communications.netapp.com/p/Network_Appliance/20070918140000WL? REF_SOURCE=press to register and participate. For more information on the unique NetApp approach to solving MSE challenges, listen to the NetApp TechTalk podcast focused on "Simplifying Data Management for Midsize Enterprises” by registering at http://communications.netapp.com/p/Network_Appliance/20070910010000 POD?REF_SOURCE=press. Additionally, technical and solution information is available online for these and other products at www.netapp.com/solutions/enterprise/midsize-enterprise/index.html?cid= 37 (Due to length, some of these URLs may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.). About NGS NetApp customers demand high availability and reliability of their storage infrastructure to provide the successful, ongoing operation of their businesses. NGS is designed to deliver support as well as a comprehensive range of professional services leveraging NetApp expertise in architecture and design, project management, solution implementation and analysis, network integration, training, best practices, standard operating procedures, and ongoing optimization. NGS continually expands and accelerates its professional service and support offerings, including enhancing its worldwide delivery capabilities and partner ecosystem, expanding storage service portfolios, deepening and broadening storage services partnerships, innovating service delivery tools and technology, and continuing to drive serviceability in NGS products and services. About Network Appliance Network Appliance is a leading provider of innovative data management solutions that simplify the complexity of storing, managing, protecting, and retaining enterprise data. Market leaders around the world choose NetApp to help them reduce cost, minimize risk, and adapt to change. For solutions that deliver unmatched simplicity and value, visit us on the Web at www.netapp.com. 1 MSE is based on Price Band 4 ($15,000-$49,999), IDC Worldwide Disk Storage Systems 2007-2011 Forecast: Mature, but Still Growing Market, May 2007. NetApp, the Network Appliance logo, Data ONTAP, FlexClone, FlexVol, and SnapManager are registered trademarks and Network Appliance, Snapshot, and RAID-DP are trademarks of Network Appliance, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft and SharePoint are registered trademarks and SQL Server is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. SAP is a registered trademark of SAP AG. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. NETAPP BRINGS ENTERPRISE-CLASS AGILITY AND SIMPLICITY TO THE MIDSIZE ENTERPRISE Advanced Systems Group, Inc. "My customers in the midsize enterprise are interested in solutions that will not require a lot of heavy lifting in terms of resources, investment, and training. I’m introducing them to the NetApp FAS2000 and can now easily address all three of their concerns.” John Murphy, executive vice president Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW) "The NetApp FAS2000 series is feature rich, competitively priced, and easy to install, which makes the products ideally suited for the midsize enterprise and great vehicles for making inroads into the mid-market space for our partners.” Robert Boulet, vice president, Storage Group of Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas "Avnet’s channel partners are looking for solutions from companies like NetApp that simplify their customers’ data management requirements for issues such as backup and restore, or deduplicating redundant data. Avnet understands the needs of midsize enterprises and helps our partners approach these markets with solutions that work at a price that matches their budgets. Avnet works closely with NetApp to help our partners deliver storage solutions, such as the FAS2000, that scale as business needs grow.” Jeff Bawol, senior vice president and general manager, Enterprise Software and Storage Solutions Group Berkeley Communications "Berkeley's midsize enterprise customers consistently come to us with enterprise-class backup and disaster recovery needs—with a midsize budget. The NetApp midsize enterprise solution is ideal for customers in terms of price, ease of use, and scalability.” Tim Naple, president CommVault "Midsize enterprises have the same data management challenges as enterprise customers, just on a different scale. Reducing complexity and driving cost efficiencies remain top priorities. Together, CommVault and NetApp have proven that a singular approach to data and information management helps midsize enterprise customers reliably protect and manage corporate data assets.” Dave West, VP Marketing and Business Development Fujitsu Siemens Computers "European midsize enterprises are experiencing a huge pressure to increase their storage capacity. With the new FAS2000 series and enterprise-class software, NetApp and Fujitsu Siemens are able to offer a complete solution to get the best out of existing infrastructures while minimizing complexity, and costs. We are really excited about this announcement, as the new systems will also add enhanced scalability and improved entry points to our FlexFrame for SAP and FlexFrame for Oracle solutions.” Dr. Helmut Beck, Vice President Storage Insight Integrated Systems "Finally we have a product that is flexible to meet the demands of our midsize enterprise customers. The FAS2000 has proven to be easy to deploy and has an easy migration path. Our customers are excited and impressed with the performance and ease of use.” Joe Gill, senior account executive Oracle "NetApp and Oracle know that midsize companies struggle with balancing their relatively small IT budgets with their growing data management and security needs. NetApp midsize enterprise solutions will help provide Oracle® Database customers with the storage management technology to support their businesses now and as they grow.” Judson Althoff, vice president, Platform and Distribution Alliances Sirius Computer Solutions "We are pleased to have a product at this price point that includes all the data management and data recovery tools our clients need to keep their business up and running. There is tremendous interest for the FAS2000 among our clients and we expect to see that interest continue to grow.” Chris Mierzwa, vice president of Product Marketing and Alliances Syncsort "Syncsort is pleased to support NetApp and the new FAS2000 series for midsize enterprise. The combination of the FAS2000 and Syncsort Backup Express is ideal for fitting a midsize enterprise budget while providing the efficiency and flexibility our customers need. The NetApp and Syncsort solution offers superior end-to-end disaster recovery and business continuity for midsize enterprises at a great value.” Dan Regan, senior vice president VMware "Networked storage unlocks the full value of a VMware Infrastructure for achieving server containment, business continuity and application lifecycle management and remote desktop delivery. We welcome the simplicity and affordability focus of the NetApp FAS2000 storage platform for VMware environments, as cost-optimization and simplified implementation of networked storage is one of strongest requirements we hear from our mid-sized enterprise customers.” Brian Byun, vice president, Global Partners and Solutions