The new version of the software designed for VM environments upgrades the interface, improves DR capability and makes it easier to migrate VM workloads to the cloud.
Enterprise backup and recovery provider Commvault has launched its new VM Backup and Recovery trial software, designed specifically to build, protect and optimize VMs throughout their lifecycle, and migrate both data and VMs to any public cloud of their choice. It provides a broad range of capabilities and integrations, supporting over 20 storage vendors, over 10 hypervisors and over 40 cloud platforms.
“This trial software is fully featured and packaged specifically for VM environments,” said Deepak Verma, Director, Solutions Group, at Commvault. “This has been a part of the software, one of the customized user interfaces which was focused around virtualization. We have revamped the GUI for the administrative console, making it super modern and intuitive. We have also changed the usage, and the install, so that it now takes only 20-30 minutes to get it going. The trial software has fully supported GA code, and has the ability to onramp to the cloud and do all the advanced features.” It is available as a free download to customers from the Commvault website.
The trial software significantly extends capabilities in VM environments.
“The biggest enhancement has been the usability,” Verma said. “That has been the primary focus. It is now completely a new experience, and the whole environment of how we back up virtual environments has changed. There are now 22 clicks to install, and two minutes to back up your first virtual machine.”
The second major change is to the disaster recovery capability in virtual environments. The software now automates disaster recovery of VMs to alternate sites and to the cloud with pre-built workflows, using a single tool.
“This second piece is under the covers, but it significantly increases our disaster recovery capability in virtualization, using Live Sync capability,” Verma said.
The third major improvement makes it much easier to migrate VM workloads to the cloud.
“The software now makes it very easy to onramp natively to the cloud with a single click,” Verma said. “It took longer to cut and paste the secret key then it did to actually make the migration work.”
A new subscription-based pricing option has also been added.
“We have announced revised pricing models as well,” Verma said. “We are moving to an annual subscription-based model, which for many customers is a big welcome change because they can pay for what they are using, rather than have to plan five years out.”
Customers will still have a choice, however.
“A lot of enterprise and government customers prefer perpetual licensing, so we will continue to make that option available,” Verma said.
Commvault is emphasizing the trial software’s massive capacity by industry standards. It easily scales beyond 100TBs, and supports more than 20 storage vendors, over 10 hypervisors and 40+ cloud platforms. At the same time, Verma emphasized that it is definitely not just aimed at very large customers.
“It’s much broader than that,” he said. “With our traditional platform, Commvault was better with larger customers. But this is targeted anywhere from 50 VM shops up – from the SMB all the way to the enterprise. We are definitely looking to expand the market that we cover, and SMBs have the same pains as larger companies, and can be even more agile.”
Commvault’s VM Backup and Recovery software is available to partners for download on Commvault’s new Partner Demand Center, their channel marketing automation platform for partners.
“Partners are a major go-to-market for us, and with Partner Demand Center, they can enable the VM Backup and Recovery solution as well,” Verma said. “This will be especially useful for co-branded campaigns, and things like DR as-a-service that they sell.”
