| It’s not often a solution provider loves a vendor and its product so much he is reluctant to talk about it. Avamar Technologies, an Irvine, Calif.-based developer of an appliance and software that increases backup speeds, however, inspired that very reaction from one solution provider, who called the technology “awesome.” “I would hate Veritas to know I work with them,” he said.  Countless products cut backup time by backing up only files that have changed. Other vendors use appliances to stage fast backups to disks before sending data to tape. Avamar’s Axion technology is unique, though. It scrubs data before sending it, moving only bits that have changed, not entire files. The company says it can reduce the amount of data sent over a network during backups by 20 to 50 times.Avamar has the most disruptive technology that Mark Teter, CTO of Advanced Systems Group, Denver, said he has ever seen. “Avamar really does represent a new way to look at data protection,” Teter said. “Customers don’t have to buy a new tape library for backups, or buy new software. It’s all included.” Backed by $35 million in financing, Avamar has been selling its software and an appliance built on that software since March 2003. Being a newcomer to the market, the company initially used the same sales representatives to serve enterprise customers and solution providers but six months ago brought in dedicated channel resources. Kevin Daly, Avamar’s CEO, said the company is very channel-focused. “VARs are wonderful partners to help customers see if they need the technology and what has to be done to go down the right path,” he said. “At the same time, they help customers understand the expectations.” 
Avamar currently has a dozen solution providers and hopes to have 30 by year-end. However, Daly said his company wants to limit potential partners to “thought leaders” in the channel. “There’s always a balance,” he said. “You want increased distribution, but at one point [partners] can start stumbling over each other.”While Avamar has an elegant solution for high-speed restores, it doesn’t work in every situation, said Michael Fanelli, Western regional manager at SSI hubcity, a Metuchen, N.J.-based solution provider. It initially didn’t work with one of SSI’s clients using a mix of DB2 and Informix databases, for instance. But Fanelli said Avamar’s channel allegiance is unmatched. “They’ve never not been able to support me,” he said.
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Published for the Week Of September 6, 2004
