VMware, Partners Taking Disaster Recovery To The Cloud

Four VMware service provider partners -- VeriStor, FusionStorm, iLand and Hosting.com -- are gearing up to launch cloud based disaster recovery services based on vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5 (SRM), an update VMware released in July along with vSphere 5 and a host of other cloud stack updates.

SRM has long been a key product for the VMware channel, as many partners use it to deliver disaster recovery and business continuity solutions to customers. And VMware is now positioning SRM 5 as a platform for delivering cloud-based disaster recovery services.

SRM 5 handles storage replication at the virtual machine (VM) level using VMware vCenter Server, which allows service providers to protect their customers' workloads and underlying data, said Joe Andrews, director of product marketing for cloud services at VMware, in a Monday interview prior to the opening of VMworld 2011.

"Partners today that are used to selling disaster recovery products would be very interested in this," Andrews said. "We see the cloud as a very good foundation for customers to get more cost effective and easier to use disaster recovery capabilities."

The four service providers have yet to offer details on pricing and availability, but Andrews expects other service providers to follow suit with their own services once VMware makes SRM 5 generally available next month.

"We envision that there will be lot more interest from service providers to deliver this type of offering," he said.

Meanwhile, VMware also announced that Dell has joined the vCloud Data Services program, joining existing partners such as Colt, Bluelock, CSC, and Terremark/Verizon. At VMworld, VMware unveiled Global Connect, collaboration between vCloud partners that lets customers obtain services from different providers under a single contract.

"This is like the early days of mobile market with GSM, in that customers can have one contract with service delivered in multiple geographies," said Andrews.