XIOtech Introduces Storage Solution For Exchange, Seeks More VARs

Dubbed Fast Restore for Exchange, the system marries a Magnitude 3D storage array from Eden Prairie, Minn.-based XIOtech with QiNetix data archive and recovery software from Oceanport, N.J.-based CommVault, said Bob Wilson, vice president of worldwide channels at XIOtech. The solution is designed mainly to improve the recovery of Exchange e-mail, which can typically take hours or even days to restore if corrupted, he said.

The Magnitude 3D offers dynamic virtual linking, which Wilson said allows multiple operating systems--including Unix, Windows, Novell and Macintosh--to be booted off a single array, Wilson said. "If clients get corrupted data, they can reassign the VLUN [virtual LUN] to the mirrored copy of the data, and then they're back up in seconds," he said.

This week, XIOtech also began offering the full suite of storage capabilities of Microsoft's Windows Server 2003, Wilson said. They include Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), Virtual Disk Service (VDS) and Multipath I/O (MPIO). XIOtech is the first storage vendor to market with full support of the features, he said.

XIOtech recently overhauled its channel program after primarily focusing on direct sales in the U.S. market, and the company is now recruiting more solution providers, according to Wilson.

In its channel program, XIOtech currently has two partners in the top Dimensional Solutions Partner level that can offer customers total solutions and services. Solution providers in the second level, Premier Dimensional Storage Partners, can follow up on and qualify leads, quote prices, and offer configuration and first- and second-level support. Wilson said he expects to have at least 10 solution providers at that partner level by year-end.

The company also plans to recruit about 20 partners by year-end at the Preferred Dimensional Storage Partner level, which enables them to identify, qualify and close customers but leave the implementation and support services to XIOtech, Wilson said. The company has about 70 sales agents in the United States, but that number may be reduced slightly, he added.

XIOtech's 35 U.S. direct-sales teams don't compete with its eight channel-sales teams, Wilson said. Instead, they are incented to work with partners. "One-third of a regional sales manager's compensation comes from channel sales," he said. "If they take a deal direct, they can lose compensation."