Dell's De-Duplication Strategy

Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) announced it's developing new data de-duplication products as part of its TierDisk family of storage solutions and will simplify de-duplication functionality across its storage portfolio. According to the company, by developing a single de-duplication architecture across the company's PowerVault, EqualLogic, and Dell/EMC product families, Dell will deliver the compatibility customers require to simply replicate and de-duplicate data across multiple sites (for example, from departments of branch offices to corporate data centers).

Dell is working with industry leaders EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) and Quantum Corp. (NYSE: QTM) to provide compatibility across the three companies' brands and product lines. By driving de-duplication, replication, and management commonality, Dell, EMC, and Quantum are working to provide compatibility and choice in a technology area that is proprietary from other vendors. Dell expects to begin shipping its new systems for customers, ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises by early next year.

Data de-dupe is a technology-based solution for an all-too-common human problem. For most people, adequately managing information comes as an afterthought. As a result they fail to consider the larger ramifications of bad storage habits to themselves and their organizations.

Company reports and presentations, coworker announcements, holiday greetings, and even non-work-related items like this week's funniest YouTube Inc. video get passed from employee to employee and saved. The result? Thousands of redundant, duplicated items, ranging from the business-critical to the literally useless, inhabiting company PCs, notebooks, and email servers.

If it stopped there, it might be a case of no harm, no foul. But with companies trying to better manage their information backup and recovery processes (thanks, in part, to stricter compliance regulations), those same thousands of redundant files and documents end up wasting space and money in corporate storage arrays and information archives and slowing backup processes to a crawl.De-dupe solutions like EMC's Avamar aim to fix this problem in a very clever way. First, they scan business systems to identify redundant data at the source. Then they remove duplicate copies while preserving files for access and system backup/recovery. In addition, since de-dupe solutions depend on central access to business information, many also support centralized, single-location management of data backup processes.

It sounds pretty straightforward, but it's not. Heterogeneous storage systems can complicate matters. That is, numerous data de-dupe solutions do not support some or many of the storage platforms commonly found in their customers' data centers. As a result, if such businesses want to fully enjoy the benefits of de-dupe, they face the complex, and even ugly, process of deploying and managing multiple solutions.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem Dell and its partners aim to fix. The company is developing a single de-dupe architecture that will work across its own storage product families. In addition, extending compatibility across EMC storage platforms and Quantum-based arrays will push those benefits to all three companies' myriad clients. In addition, Dell's new solutions are likely to create opportunities for future engagements. While data de-dupe is not rocket science, it may as well be for customers whose storage expertise is thin on the ground. As a result, we expect the company's planned services based on its de-dupe systems to be well received.

Overall, we believe these new de-dupe systems and service offerings are likely to succeed. By working with EMC and Quantum to take the pain and complexity out of data de-duplication, Dell should benefit both existing and new customers while driving a host of opportunities for itself and its partners.

Charles King, President and Principal Analyst for research firm Pund-IT Inc. , focuses on business technology evolution and interpreting the effects these changes will have on vendors, their customers, and the greater IT marketplace. Since founding Pund-IT in December 2004, Charles has published the Pund-IT Weekly Review, which contains a variety of industry analysis features, including this blog.0