EMC Peels Back IIM

EMC has added more flesh to the bones of its Intelligent Information Management (IIM) strategy, but the vendor may face a challenge luring in some users.

EMC announced IIM a couple of months ago, touting the technology as a way to lock down firms' unmanaged data and get better control over back-end systems. Today, the vendor revealed more details of the software, which will classify and manage emails, metadata, and application data. (See EMC Intros IIM and De-Classifying Data Classification.)

IIM software combines different pieces of EMC technology, according to George Symons, CTO for information management at EMC's software division. But it will comprise a distinct, new piece of software. "The initial release is primarily around data movement," he told Byte & Switch, explaining that this could be, for example, shifting data from disk to tape or to a long-term archive.

Over time, different elements of EMC's products will be built into the IIM package, according to Symons. This will include repository management from Documentum, reporting capabilities from EMC's Smarts acquisition, file virtualization technology from Rainfinity, and encryption technology from RSA. (See EMC Cops Documentum, EMC Gets Smarts, EMC Acquires Smarts, EMC Refreshes NAS, SAN, and EMC Secures RSA for $2.1B.) All features will be bundled in one package.

At least one user isn't sold on this approach. Carl Follstad, manager of data management services at the University of Minnesota, warns that a single package of bundled functions isn't for everyone. "From an end-user perspective, it needs to be la carte -- users need to tackle the most urgent problem first," he explains, adding that he is currently focused on his digital archive.The boardroom is a different story. "It makes a lot of sense for EMC to have a portfolio so that they can pitch a complete solution to the C-level folks," concedes Follstad.

Although the details are still fuzzy, EMC plans to tie IIM with its efforts around ILM. (See Statera, EMC Team on Tiers, EMC Earnings Credit ILM Uptick, Quicken Loans Advances With EMC, and House Intros Net Neutrality Bill.)

But a program manager from the government sector, who asked not to be named, told Byte & Switch that many businesses are nowhere near taking the next step up from ILM. "I think that people are still trying to understand ILM, and I think that people are still trying to understand and integrate their document management and records management," he says.

Even Rob Emsley, senior director of software product marketing at EMC, admits that the storage market needs another acronym "like a hole in the head."

"The biggest challenge [for EMC] is painting a clear picture for their clients about why this is something they should be concerned about," adds Ellen Ryan, president of the Midwest Documentum Users' Group and account manager at consultancy Technology Services Group. "Equally as important is making [IIM] easy to integrate with peoples' current platforms."IIM, of course, also means another software license to add to existing contracts for the likes of Documentum. One exec, at least, thinks that this is no big deal. "In some respects, you pay for it one way or the other," says the program manager. "You buy a pre-packaged bundle of software or you spend the money and resources customizing your existing applications."

In some quarters, there does appear to be a pressing need for IIM -- or something like it. "In our clients, we see that more and more information is hard to locate and manage," says the Technology Services Group's Ryan, adding that encryption technologies, in particular, will be useful. "We do a lot of work with the pharmaceutical companies and there's a lot of concern about access and sending things outside the firewall."

EMC told Byte & Switch that it now has five beta sites using IIM, including an internal project where the technology is being used to move EMC's own files around. Other beta customers are in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, financial, and retail sectors, although Symons would not reveal their identities.

The initial release of IIM will share data across both EMC and non-EMC storage devices, according to the exec, via the CIFS and NFS file sharing protocols.

EMC, however, is not the only vendor targeting this corner of the market. A number of startups, including StoredIQ, Kazeon (a NetApp partner), and Scentric currently play in the unmanaged content space. (See Kazeon, Google Search, Sneak Preview: Kazeon IS1200 v1, StoredIQ, CynergisTekTeam, and De-Classifying Data Classification.)— James Rogers, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch