Though the ink is still wet on its planned acquisition of Legato Systems Inc., EMC Corp. has a strategy to integrate, extend and sell new backup products around that companys software.
While most users received the acquisition news positively, some still questioned EMCs ability to run Legato independently, as EMC CEO and President Joe Tucci has promised.
As for integrating Legatos flagship Networker software, “Were going to do both. Were going to keep [the products] competitive, and were going to put features in [Networker] that work better with our own products,” said Mark Lewis, chief technology officer and executive vice president of open software at EMC, in Hopkinton, Mass.
How EMC will determine which features to keep agnostic and which to integrate more tightly with its ControlCenter suite is unclear. Integration requires systems management features that are still in development, Lewis said.
EMC early last month said it would buy the struggling Legato, of Mountain View, Calif., for about $1.3 billion.
Legato customers who have complained that they have yet to be contacted by EMC should be patient, Tucci said. EMC first needs regulatory clearance before it can update customers, he said.
In the meantime, EMC customers will soon see the company offer new tape products through partnerships or resale deals, Tucci said. EMCs current tape partners include Exabyte Corp., Sony Electronics Inc. and Spectra Logic Corp.
So far at least one Legato user is pleased by the tape push.
“Im extremely interested in them getting in with the tape suppliers because right now we have a couple of jukeboxes, were using AIT-3 tapes and theres problems with getting the proper configurations,” said Legato customer Les Yaw, user systems specialist at Luther College, in Decorah, Iowa. “You end up with technical support … from both sides fighting.”
In shopping for a storage area network vendor, “Were holding back any judgment and not going in with any preconceived notions,” Yaw said.