EMC Plans New Services Portfolio

Looking to improve an area where it has been traditionally weak, EMC next week will unveil a host of new storage services.

According to a company document obtained by internetnews.com, the Hopkinton, Mass., information systems vendor will announce data erasures, a government-geared service and 24-7 services for its ControlCenter, Documentum and Networker software.

Originally designed for the vendor’s mid-range Clariion and high-end Symmetrix storage systems, the data erasure services will now destroy data on certain IBM and Hitachi Data Systems machines.

The services will provide audited certification of information removal, meeting the demands of federal regulations such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley that call for electronic information be preserved for a specific length of time, then erased.

EMC will also trot out new high-speed remote monitoring and support software for all EMC machines. This package includes software components for authentication, authorization, audit and encryption to secure customers’ data.

The tool lets customers define security policies so they can decide what data users can access on all of the devices in an organization. The software provides identification, notification and simple management for all of the EMC devices in an organization through one portal.

EMC will also boost its services for its ControlCenter, Documentum and Networker software, providing technical expertise and promising faster resolution and onsite assistance seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Moreover, EMC’s new Web support tools will allow users to safely save and share hardware, software and host information, including attachments. Users will also be able to access files from previous cases.

Well known as a storage powerhouse in a space with larger competitors such as IBM, HP and HDS, EMC has also been picked on by analysts for one glaring hole of late: services.

Determined to beat that rap and keep up with the superior service teams of IBM and HP, EMC has formulated a sound service strategy to serve anywhere from small mom and pop shops to the Fortune 2000 vendors.

Last March, the vendor promised to “make storage simple,” embarking on a services plan for SMBs. Small business was a largely untapped market segment for EMC, which has lathered its bread with the butter from large companies.

These strategies have paid off: EMC services grew 31 percent to $1.4 billion in 2003, ballooned 49 percent to $2.1B in 2004 and has been the fastest growing business segment for EMC in every quarter this year.

Article courtesy of InternetNews.com