Virtual environments have been central to IT infrastructure for the majority of businesses for awhile now. Even when the company utilizes a physical server onsite, it is typically set up to host a virtual environment. Barring hardware failure, virtual environments are much easier for offsite IT personnel to manage. If a hard reboot is necessary, logging into a virtual platform makes it quick and easy to perform, without costly trips out to the location.
This transformation towards virtual environments, hybrid IT infrastructure, and cloud-based solutions have presented quite a problem for backup solutions. The big challenge: How do you manage and protect data across all those different systems.
Veeam Software claims to have the answer with its new Veeam Availability Suite 9.5 Release 3. The company claims that this update will provide comprehensive data management and ensure Availability for all workloads—virtual, physical, and cloud—centrally managed via a single Veeam “pane of glass.”
Veeam Partner Program Push
The launch comes as Veeam Channel Chief Kevin Rooney says the data protection company’s enterprise momentum is set to kick into high gear in 2018.
Why’s that? Growing relationships with Cisco Systems and HP Enterprise (among others). Also, the company has made a key hire -- VP Dangvy Keller -- to handle distribution relationships. And an ongoing CSP partner push continues to accelerate, VP Paul Mattes told us during Amazon AWS re:Invent 2017 in late November. Longer term, watch for potential engagements with global systems integrators, Rooney hinted to ChannelE2E during the Ingram Micro ONE 2017 conference in November.
Of course, the partner program can't accelerate without timely software innovation. That's why VAS 9.5 Update 3 is so darn important. It features a Universal Storage API -- a new storage interface that should allow Veeam to more rapidly support new storage integrations going forward, which could lead to superior backup performance, lower risk of data loss, and more rapid recovery.
New capabilities in VAS 9.5 Update 3 also include:
- Built-in management for Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.1 and Veeam Agent for Linux v2: Users can now get centralized agent deployment and management reducing complexity and improving usability through a single pane of glass for virtual, physical and cloud-based workloads. Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.1 includes protection for mission-critical Microsoft Windows Server failover clusters, while Veeam Agent for Linux v2 adds the ability to back up to a Veeam Cloud Connect repository, support for scale-out backup repositories as backup targets, and source-side encryption.
- Support for VMware Cloud on AWS: Veeam support for VMware Cloud on AWS enables enterprises to deploy Veeam’s Availability solutions seamlessly across VMware-based public, private, and hybrid cloud environments.
- IBM Storage integration: VAS 9.5 Update 3 will also benefit from Veeam’s expansion of its strategic IBM partnership to include IBM Spectrum Virtualize integration, extending Veeam storage snapshot integration capabilities to IBM Storwize and SAN Volume Controller based storage arrays.The joint solution will enable users to save time, reduce labor costs, and achieve lower recovery time and point objectives.
- Lenovo Storage integration: Veeam also deepens its new Lenovo partnership with storage snapshot integration for the Lenovo Storage V Series, yielding superior backup and restore performance. In addition, the Lenovo DS series was recently Veeam Ready certified as a repository for Veeam backups, giving joint Veeam and Lenovo customers a complete solution.
- New analytics and monitoring capabilities in Veeam ONE: Veeam has added Agent monitoring and reporting, as well as Data Sovereignty Compliance Reporting to Veeam ONE, the management component of VAS 9.5 Update 3. With this new capability, end-users will receive access to additional guidance and tools designed to assist them through new stringent data backup and protection compliance requirements.
Veeam Grows -- But So Does Competition
Veeam is privately held, so the company doesn't share exact quarterly revenue or profit figure. But multiple metrics suggest the company remains in rapid growth mode. One prime example: The company expects to reach $1.5 billion in bookings revenue by 2020, Co-CEO and President Peter McKay said in November 2017. That's impressive, considering Veeam in May 2017 suggested the company wants to grow from $800 million now to $1 billion in 2018 to that $1.5 billion in 2020.
Still, Veeam faces a range of rivals -- from entrenched companies like Veritas to cloud-driven upstarts like Druva and MSP-focused SMB players like Datto. Veeam must also carefully manage those new enterprise relationships with Cisco and HPE -- ensuring that those strategic alliances don't compete with traditional Veeam resellers, integrators and CSPs.
And most of all, the company must make sure the VAS 9.5 Update 3 rollout goes smoothly, especially to CSPs that built their business continuity strategies atop earlier versions of the software.
Additional reporting and insights from Joe Panettieri.
