CDP, The Next Chapter

When next you meet continuous data protection (CDP), you may not recognize it. Instead of being peddled as an enterprise curiosity, the technology is more likely to greet you as a smaller product that isn't necessarily named CDP.

This only makes sense. By itself, CDP has been a bone of contention among suppliers and a solution that's tough to afford for users, particularly for SMBs. (See Insider: CDP Streamlines Restoral and CDP: Calling It Right.)

"I don't see how a small business could afford CDP, though maybe somebody could argue with me about that," says Hal Weiss, systems engineer at Baptist Memorial Healthcare. "I don't see how they'd have the necessity for it."

CDP suppliers are out to change this perception, in part by making CDP part of other applications that organizations of all sizes are likely to buy. In recent news, Mimosa made CDP part of its NearPoint for Microsoft Exchange Server archiving package. (See Mimosa Adds Migration.) Mendocino and Revivio are touting tighter integration that puts CDP at the service of specific enterprise applications. FalconStor, Kashya, and others are linking CDP more tightly with SAN replicators. (See Users Push for CDP Shapeshift .)

The goal is to make CDP a springboard, not an end in itself."Honestly, we find folks come for disaster recovery and leverage CDP as part of that," says Rick Walsworth, VP of marketing for Kashya.

It should surprise no one that CDP doesn't sell so well alone. After all, why should any IT pro spend money typically $50,000 or more – on a product that's designed to do just one thing? Better to argue with the CIO over the broader merits of better backup, replication, or security.

CDP is also shrinking as it gets more focused. This was the thinking behind Revivio's recent release of the CPS 1000, a stripped-down version of the vendor's product that couples its CDP software with an integral 1.8 Tbytes of storage at roughly one-fourth the cost. (See Revivio CDP Targets Apps.) It's also behind Topio's "Disaster Recovery in a Box" campaign. (See Topio, Meridian Deliver Prime.)

This is only the start. CDP has the potential to become one of the key ingredients of tomorrow's storage networks. Properly packaged, the ability to restore data quickly to a specific point in time isn't just compelling, it's a necessity.

Don't be surprised then, as CDP continues to fade into the woodwork and suppliers are absorbed by partners with a bigger storage agenda.The consolidation began early, with NetApp's purchase of Alacritus. (See NetApp Annexes Alacritus.) It's continued with Atempo's purchase of Storactive. (See Atempo Swallows Storactive.) Once Mendocino's deals with EMC and HP take off, that should provide a spur to further consolidation, as well as more OEM deals.

This industry sector's changing as quickly as the technology sold by its participating vendors. Before you know it, CDP will be just another commoditized item on a backup vendor's checklist.

— Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch

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