Company: AppAssure Software

Headquarters: Reston, Va.

Technology Sector: Storage

Key Product: AppAssure Replay AppImage

Year Founded: 2005

Number of Channel Partners: 40 in North America

Ideal Channel Partner: Midmarket-focused solution providers

Why You Should Care: Data backup vendor AppAssure is moving to a channel-only sales model this summer.

The Lowdown: AppAssure makes sure customers' applications and data are both securely backed up and available in the event either is lost with technology that saves changes to applications and data locally and/or offsite and continually tests the data to make sure it is ready for recovery.

AppAssure came to market in March of 2008 with two software applications, said Jack Codde, vice president of sales.

AppAssure Replay AppImage

The first, Replay AppImage, backs up Windows applications and data and transfers users to the backed-up version in the event of a server problem or disaster. Customers can then continue running the application while the production server is being rebuilt.

"Our software captures the application and its recent state in addition to the data," Codde said. "The software then looks at the image right away to make sure it is good for recovery. We can then quickly push it to another physical or virtual machine when needed."

AppAssure is working with cloud computing providers to enable Replay AppImage to send backup or recovery points offsite as a way of providing low-cost disaster recovery.

The second AppAssure application is Mail Retriever, which works with Exchange databases to provide granular recovery down to the individual folder or e-mail level. It also stores recovery points for as far back as required for restoring older e-mails, Codde said.

AppAssure plans to offer a similar module for Microsoft SharePoint files in July, Codde said.

AppAssure started working with indirect resellers in January, and the channel now accounts for 32 percent of its business, Codde said.

Starting July 1, the company will move to provide all its technology through channel partners. It already has a channel-neutral compensation plan in place for its sales reps, and offers a 35 percent margin to partners who register a customer deal, Codde said.