Software/Service offers intelligent information management.
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Press Release Summary:
Designed to automate information lifecycle management, EMC Infoscape(TM) lets users search all corporate information in file systems, classify information based on business value, manage retention of unstructured information for compliance, and facilitate policy-based and automated data migration across tiered storage infrastructure. EMC Strategy Service helps users define policies, best practices, and procedures to manage unstructured information as it changes value.
Original Press Release:
EMC Improves Information Lifecycle Management with New EMC Infoscape Software and Consulting Services
EMC Infoscape Automates ILM Capabilities and Extends Classification Technologies for Simplifying Information Management, Mitigating Risk and Containing Storage Costs
ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 18 /-- EMC Corporation, the world leader in information management and storage, today announced new EMC Infoscape(TM) software and related EMC Information Management Strategy Service that will help companies discover, classify and manage unstructured enterprise information. EMC Infoscape will enable customers to efficiently, accurately and easily search all corporate information in file systems, automatically classify information based on business value, manage the retention of unstructured information for compliance and facilitate policy-based and automated data migration across a tiered storage infrastructure.
This groundbreaking intelligent information management software will automate and orchestrate information lifecycle management (ILM) services such as information protection, data placement on tiers of storage, regulatory compliance and information security based on the information's value to the business. This class of software ultimately will enable customers to intelligently manage digital information in all its forms -- by automatically discovering information, assessing its importance, and executing pre-defined ILM policies.
The proliferation of unstructured information is leading to difficulties in identification and management of information for security, compliance, discovery and storage optimization purposes. Organizations are faced with the challenge of determining which information is critical, which is important or unimportant, and which is non-business. Identification and classification of information is critical to solving this problem. Current solutions address only part of the challenge, are laborious and offer limited automation.
Brian Babineau, analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, said, "ESG research estimates that organizations will retain over 35,000 Petabytes of unstructured information for business reference as well as to support legal proceeding and comply with several record retention regulations. The sheer amount of data will require organizations to re-evaluate and drastically improve their information management strategies. EMC Infoscape and the new Information Management Strategy Service will provide a unique and compelling offering in the market and help customers evolve and better execute on their information lifecycle management strategies."
EMC Infoscape leverages the investments EMC has made in software technologies -- including the acquisitions of Smarts, Legato and Documentum. As a result, EMC brings multiple information management capabilities into one product, with one user interface, one customer installation and one management paradigm for information.
EMC customer Fifth Third Bank -- a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati with $106.1 billion in assets -- is beta tester of EMC Infoscape. Steve Swanson, Vice President of Storage Management at Fifth Third Bank, said, "EMC Infoscape transcends anything else available on the market because it provides a convergence of security, compliance and storage management. We consider it imperative to get a better hold on all the unstructured information residing in our environment and improve our ability to mitigate risk and reduce costs tied to moving data to appropriate storage tiers. As such, we are excited to be working with EMC to further drive ILM actions tied to our infrastructure."
New Consulting Service - EMC Information Management Strategy Service
In addition to EMC Infoscape, the company introduced today the EMC Information Management Strategy Service, a new consulting offering from EMC Global Services. This service helps customers define proper policies, best practices and procedures to effectively and cost-efficiently manage unstructured information as it changes value throughout its life. Customers receive a consultative engagement that helps them determine where data resides, how it is being classified and how to better leverage the data to address critical information placement, availability, protection and compliance requirements.
Mark Sorenson, EMC's Senior Vice President of Information Management Software, said, "With today's announcement, EMC provides customers with the most comprehensive solution offering to advance their information lifecycle management strategies. Infoscape provides customers with a number of capabilities that have been missing in today's information management products. Through file metadata and content-based classification, Infoscape gives customers visibility into their data so that it can be better managed according to its value. Only EMC Infoscape provides content and concept-based information classification, policy management and increased automation that deliver on these information management challenges."
Sorenson added, "EMC's acquisition strategy has always focused on improving an organization's ability to manage information from cradle to grave. By integrating best-in-class core technologies from recent acquisitions, we're now able to deliver a game-changing solution to our customer base. Today, EMC has the focus, the technologies and the resources to execute on a development project of this magnitude."
Features and benefits of EMC Infoscape include:
- Discovery -- discovers files in network shares by scanning and collecting file metadata in a completely agent-less fashion. In Version 1 of the software, EMC Infoscape can accept bulk metadata transfers from EMC Celerra(R) network attached storage devices, saving processing time and improving efficiency.
- Information Classification -- classifies files into various categories based on either collected file metadata or actual file content, resulting in more accurate classification. The software can "crack open" files to analyze the content and categorize them based on 25 industry-specific taxonomies (classification rules or catalogs) that provide rich rules for content-based classification.
- IT Services Management -- understands and maps storage level service to each category of file defined through classification. IT staff can also use EMC Infoscape to conduct cost analysis and modeling and to generate comprehensive reports on charge backs and cost savings.
- Orchestration -- automates file movement between network shares and storage servers, initially in a Celerra environment, for security, compliance and/or storage optimization reasons. A full-text indexing engine built into the product can be invoked to enable users to search for or within a selected category of files.
- Reporting and Auditing -- provides comprehensive reports presenting holistic views of where information resides and how it's being managed, gap analysis reports and multiple storage reports on items like duplicate files and capacity utilization. The software provides audit trails of all activity associated with EMC Infoscape, enabling compliance and better management of unstructured data.
A natural extension to EMC Infoscape, the new Information Management Strategy Service will help customers discover, classify and orchestrate the management of unstructured information. This consultative approach is based on a complete solution framework for information management that follows the "plan-build-manage" phases of the IT lifecycle and is delivered through a comprehensive end-to-end approach addressing people, processes and technology. Benefits of this service include:
- Strict compliance with corporate governance guidelines and external regulations through policy-based automated information management
- Mitigated risks through improved information security
- Reduced legal discovery costs as a result of proactive, automated litigation support.
- Reduced cost of storing and protecting information by placing unstructured information on the optimal storage infrastructure, balancing cost and service-level requirements
On September 28, 2006, EMC is hosting an online event that will address key issues related to the management of unstructured information -- "Practical Applications of Intelligent Information Management." For registration information, please visit http://www.emcsoftware-info.com/mk/get/09-28-06_IIM_Invite.
Availability and Pricing
EMC Infoscape will be available in October 2006. The base module is $125,000 and capacity licensing starts at $9,000 per Terabyte. The EMC Information Management Strategy Service is available immediately and is priced based on the specific engagement.
About EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) is the world leader in products, services and solutions for information management and storage that help organizations extract the maximum value from their information, at the lowest total cost, across every point in the information lifecycle. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.
EMC and Celerra are registered trademarks, and Infoscape is a trademark of EMC Corporation. All other products are trademarks of their associated companies.
CONTACT: Todd Cadley of EMC Corporation, +1-843-569-2715, cadley_todd@emc.com
