Symantec Adds SMB Disaster Recovery Services

April 18, 2007

Symantec on Tuesday unveiled a beta version of software intended to provide disaster recovery assistance to small- and mid-sized businesses.

The online backup service from Symantec's Protection Network will provide backup and restoration for business-critical data. This format will allow smaller companies to avoid the migration costs and upgrade processes associated with traditional solutions, according to Symantec.

"In general, the IT industry tends to build products for the larger end of the enterprise spectrum – the people with the biggest pockets," said Chris Schin, director of product management for Symantec.

The company has a small- and medium-sized market, but its existing products still "require some level of expertise" on the part of the client, Schin said. The Symantec Protection Network, therefore, will provide clients with the "same levels of reliability someone might have if they built out a full enterprise."

Symantec will host the software, storage and Web portal, Schin said.

"Everything is encrypted using the Symantec encryption scheme," he said. "The pipe that it - travels through - comes to us. We leave it encrypted in the data centers and then secure it in those data centers."

Symantec acquired Veritas Software in 2004 so its systems are running a combination of Veritas and Symantec technology, Schin said.

Clients can opt to work with one of Symantec's partners or subscribe directly with Symantec via the Internet, though Schin expects that a "significant percentage" will access the program via partners.

"We believe that the kind of customer we're reaching is typically serviced by a local re-seller today," he said.

The online backup service is the first offering from Symantec's Protection Network and will be formally available later this year, Schin said. As the company adds more services to the program, users will access these additional offerings via a common portal, platform and support model, Symantec said.

Schin expects Symantec to add about three or four new offerings to the Protection Network each year. The company is primarily known for security solutions, but compliance and storage-based solutions are also a possibility, he said.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1:36 PM PDT with comments from Symantec's Schin.

Copyright 2007 by Ziff Davis Media, Distributed by United Press International