Yosemite Adds CDP By Acquiring FileKeeper
San Jose, Calif.-based Yosemite unveiled the FileKeeper acquisition on Tuesday. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Yosemite CEO George Symons said FileKeeper's technology fills a gap in his company's product line because of its ability to continuously back up data on desktop and mobile PCs. "There's so much data running around on laptops and desktops," he said. "For servers, that's not a problem because somebody's always backing them up."
FileKeeper protects mobile users away from the office by backing up changes to data to a disk cache when the user is offline, and then it automatically sends the changes to a remote location the next time the user is online, Symons said. Users can restore to an earlier version of the file by clicking on the file without asking for help from an IT administrator.
FileKeeper offers two types of CDP. For most applications, changes to data are saved remotely every time a file is saved. However, for applications like Microsoft Exchange, where files are kept open for long stretches of time, the software also can be set to replicate the change at customer-specified time intervals.
FileKeeper had a small number of customers and was looking for a way to build the business, Symons said. "They could either go looking for dollars or get acquired," he said. "They only had 30 customers, each with 20 to 30 laptops, and one with about 4,000 laptops. That answered our questions about scalability."
Yosemite's software is sold through Ingram Micro to solution providers and through OEMs such as Hewlett-Packard, Quantum and NovaStor, according to Symons. Dell has an OEM and a reseller relationship with Yosemite, he said.
"We have a strong OEM base, but we really need to grow our channel," Symons said. "We are putting in place better VAR programs and offering better margins. We will also be starting new lead-generation programs soon."
Andy Pratt, president of Unique Digital, a Houston-based solution provider that has worked with Yosemite for about a year, called the acquisition a natural move. "You're either going to take and do things like this, or you're not going to be around," Pratt said.
FileKeeper's CDP technology is especially appealing to small businesses, he added. "They need CDP more than big businesses do," he said. "Big businesses can use multiple locations to protect their data. Small businesses can't afford to do that."
The ideal CDP software customer is a small engineering, contracting, insurance or similar firm with 25 to 50 people, according to Pratt. "They need a solution like this so they don't come in one day, see their building burned to the ground and wonder, 'What next?' " he said.
Unique Digital also partners with EMC, which has small-business data protection software, Retrospect, under its Insignia line. However, Pratt said, he prefers to sell Yosemite and stays away from Retrospect because it's available from too many other solution providers.