Data recovery and management topping list of regional corporate technology issues, says VERITAS

"Among the fastest growing areas within the Middle East's information storage sector are software solutions that enable rapid data recovery from a diverse range of hardware systems and email archiving solutions which help companies comply with record retention regulations," said Heini Booysen, Program Manager with analyst group IDC, who addressed the recent VERITAS VISION forum. "VERITAS is responding to this opportunity by upgrading its flagship products in these areas - NetBackup and Enterprise Vault - and synchronizing the cost-saving benefits of backup and archiving solutions."

With the protection of corporate data and compliance with impending regulation around data storage emerging as key business considerations in the Middle East, the company has unveiled VERITAS NetBackup 6.0 and VERITAS Enterprise Vault 6.0 - software designed to dramatically enhance availability of email and other core business information.

"VERITAS NetBackup is used by over a hundred of the Middle East's most prominent businesses, from banks and telecoms providers to airlines, energy companies, and government departments," said Omar Dajani, technical consultant for VERITAS Middle East. "Advances in the latest versions of NetBackup and Enterprise Vault achieve two key functions for VERITAS Middle East's customers - rapid, seamless recovery of corporate information from the widest variety of sources and systems and reduced information management costs through better use of hardware and other existing resources."

To keep pace with rapid growth in the size of data volumes, NetBackup 6.0 empowers enterprises to take an innovative step forward toward centralized management and recovery of data that has been copied via a broad range of backup and snapshot technologies. As well as managing and recovering data, NetBackup 6.0 also enables the management and recovery of systems across heterogeneous UNIX, Windows and Linux environments. Systems can be recovered to dissimilar hardware, reducing hardware costs and providing administrators with flexibility in their recovery operations.

Highlighting the convergence between backup and archiving strategies in IT departments, VERITAS also used the recent VISION event in the Middle East to showcase Enterprise Vault 6.0. This e-mail and content archiving software enables organizations to archive and manage e-mail data, instant messages, Microsoft SharePoint documents, and Microsoft Windows and Network Appliance file systems. Enterprise Vault 6.0 provides a secure, tamper-proof central repository for these business records, helping companies comply with all electronic records retention regulations while driving down costs through improved user productivity and efficient use of storage hardware.

"Email retention is now a key element of regional corporate strategy, including compliance with regulations being considered around the Middle East," added Dajani. "With Enterprise Vault 6.0 now able to manage information created on more than 90 percent of the world's leading messaging systems with the introduction of support for Lotus Domino/Notes, VERITAS Middle East has more than doubled our addressable market size for archiving solutions."

The 6.0 versions of NetBackup and Enterprise Vault were launched in the Middle East just before VERITAS hosted its prestigious VISION DUBAI 2005 conference at the Madinat Jumeirah Conference Center. The conference promoted utility computing, a system set to revolutionise the IT world by automating a range of management procedures, and adjusting a company's resources according to its individual need and circumstances.