Onaro Lifts Its Cover

Two years after receiving seed money, Onaro Inc. has emerged from stealth with $7.75 million in funding and a description of its first product.

How did the Boston-based startup manage to stay under wraps for two years after its original discovery? (See Onaro Joins SAN Software Brigade.) One possibility: Its core technology team consists of veterans of Israeli military defense agencies. Laying low is their specialty. CEO Shai Scharf says the startup also was busy doing homework: The team spent a year interviewing storage administrators before writing a line of code. The rest of the time was spent developing and testing software that monitors SANs for change and predicts its impact, he says.

Scharf claims Fortune 500 companies are using Onaros software, but -- in line with his cloak-and-dagger background -- he won’t name them. The product isn’t set for general availability until June.

Here’s what we know: Original investor Cedar Fund and newcomer Newbury Ventures have put up funding for the 18-person company, and Scharf is promising product that will reduce problems that cause SANs to stumble.

One industry insider, who has seen Onaro’s product but asked not to be named, says it automates processes other storage resource management software does manually. These processes include changing SAN policies as well as zone and LUN mapping and other settings that can be a major headache for administrators. In this observer's view, it could take competing wares 18 months to catch up.That said, the insider maintains the new offering won't be cheap but will probably be priced in the "hundreds of thousands of dollars." Scharf declines to talk price until the product rolls out.

There’s no shortage of storage resource management software vendors that also promise change management at various prices, including CreekPath Systems Inc., EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), Tek-Tools Inc., and Softek. (See CreekPath Releases Suite, Hires VP, EMC Offers More Visual Software, Tek-Tools Enhances Storage Profiler, and Softek Upgrades Its Wares.)

Scharf says Onaro’s software is different because it predicts changes and errors before they occur. “How can we do that? By simulating changes in your current environment,” he says. “We monitor activity and compare it to a validated plan. If we detect a change from the plan, we conduct an impact analysis.”

Data Mobility Group senior analyst John Webster says an ability to detect the slightest change makes Onaro’s product stand out. He says it will be particularly helpful when scaling SANs.

“Their real strength is the level of detail they offer to storage administrators,” he says. “The software is far-reaching in its scope and its ability to see and report back changes. It can roll back in time with precise detail and roll forward in time to do predictive modeling.”But Webster says the product won't be for beginners. “It’s not for the faint of heart,” he says. “It’s for sophisticated users with a high level of expertise. There’s an awful lot of instrumentation there.”

— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch