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Development tool maker XAware Inc. this week launched a Bluefin kit for storage products.
Bluefin is the implementation specification for companies building storage products around the Common Information Model. CIM is a common language in which storage products communicate, so vendors dont have to build translation layers.
XAware, a Colorado Springs, Colo., startup, helps storage companies work with CIM and Bluefin by using XML templates for its XAsuite. “We make it for people who have to do this anyway. We provide the wrenches,” said Bill Miller, CEO, who co-founded and was chief technology officer of service provider-turned-software vendor Storage Networks Inc.
Future templates will probably address application programming interfaces, specific programming languages, and SNMP, he said.
The software is complementary to offerings like AppIQ Inc.s CIM-IQ initiative, Miller said. AppIQ President and CEO A. Ashutosh was senior vice president, advanced technology, under Millers tenure at Storage Networks.
XAsuite and the XML templates are available now. XAsuite prices vary widely, from $1,000 to $50,000, depending on licenses and adapters. The templates are free.
The niche for selling CIM/Bluefin toolkits has not yet become popular, but startups will have to compete against established development firms, noted analyst Arun Taneja, of Enterprise Storage Group Inc., in Milford, Mass. The mainstream players include Borland Software Corp., Computer Associates International Inc. and Rational Software Corp., along with systems makers like IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc.