HighGround's e-Services Include Two New SRM Apps

HighGround Systems Inc, a leading developer of storage resource management software, plans to make two new storage resource management applications available as subscription-based e-Services at StorageSight.com. Current HighGround products, Storage Resource Manager (SRM) and SRM for Exchange, will now be joined by two hosted e-Services, SRM for Microsoft SQL Server and SRM for Oracle. These new e-Services lead HighGround's move into hosted SRM applications in recognition of the tight relationship between databases and storage and the key role that databases play in the New Enterprise environment.

"HighGround characterizes the New Enterprise environment by its focus on information, and its requirement to use information as a competitive differentiator in today's e-business economy," said HighGround president and CEO Dennis Grant. "Vital to corporate initiatives, this need for information works to align IT with business objectives. Storage market forces, including uncontrolled data growth, unmanaged and increasingly complex storage infrastructures, and a worldwide shortage in skilled IT personnel, have created serious challenges for these New Enterprise companies. As a result, effective use of storage has become the critical factor in e-commerce availability and performance. StorageSight.com is essential to comprehensive management of the storage environment," Grant concluded.

New Enterprise businesses routinely implement diverse information delivery models that include Application Service Providers (ASPs), Internet services, B2B and any-to-any architectures like Storage Area Networks (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) topologies. Hosting storage resource management through StorageSight.com can give these companies the confidence to initiate and implement added infrastructure without the burden of cost, complexity or disruption to business.

"Storage resource management, especially as it relates to databases, is a particularly attractive service to deliver through the Management Service Provider (MSP) model," said Michael Peterson, president of Strategic Research Corporation. "Many e-commerce applications depend on database availability to initiate and complete transactions. The storage performance levels required by these enterprise databases are enhanced with SRM solutions that can provide monitoring, analysis, problem resolution strategies and event management. Services like those that will be available via StorageSight.com offer unparalleled performance benefits."

StorageSight.com First to Offer SRM e-Services

HighGround's StorageSight.com Website www.storagesight.com is the entry point for customers of SRM for SQL Server and SRM for Oracle. Both database e-Services will:

• Offer automated storage performance, capacity and availability monitoring;
• Provide proactive data collection, reporting, analysis, forecasting and event management;
• Identify storage problems before databases are impacted; and
• Suggest specific remedies to anticipated database/storage problems.

HighGround's e-Services approach and subscription pricing enable customers to instantly realize the benefits of database storage resource management with minimal impact on IT staffs, budgets and hardware resources.

Partnerships Result in Broader New Enterprise Views for SRM

HighGround is also addressing the requirements of the New Enterprise business through key partnerships that extend SRM's management capabilities to include critical storage topologies. In another press release issued, HighGround announced a partnership with Brocade Communications Systems Inc, (BROCADE) a leading supplier of Fibre Channel fabric solutions for storage area networking. HighGround's partnership with BROCADE will deliver the first storage resource management views of Fibre Channel switches in a SAN from a centralized management console.

"We are pleased to work with HighGround to extend SRM's capabilities to view and manage BROCADE-based SANs," said Peter Tarrant, BROCADE vice president of marketing and business development. "By ensuring that BROCADE products are manageable through innovative storage resource management solutions such as HighGround's SRM, we can further reduce the cost and complexity of managing storage environments for our mutual customers."

The BROCADE announcement follows other HighGround strategic partnership announcements previously made with:

• Compaq "HighGround's SRM applications are vital to Compaq's Enterprise Network Storage Architecture (ENSA), which outlines deployment of distributed Open SANs," said Howard Elias, vice president and general manager, storage products division, Compaq. "This partnership establishes HighGround as the 'market maker' of storage resource management software for Open SAN environments and further extends Compaq's leadership in the Open SAN market."
• Network Appliance "Partnering with HighGround will provide the first automated storage capacity, utilization and performance monitoring solutions for NAS resources," said Charlie Simmons, vice president of corporate development for Network Appliance. "HighGround's SRM solutions deliver the easy-to-use, integrated tools customers need to manage storage capacity, availability and performance across their New Enterprise storage infrastructure."

HighGround has also entered into partnerships with a number of other New Enterprise vendors including Bull, CommVault, Emulex, Microsoft and Vixel.

About HighGround Systems

In 1995, HighGround Systems coined the phrase "Storage Resource Management" to describe the software that would ultimately become its flagship product, Storage Resource Manager (SRM). Storage resource management is now a term recognized worldwide by industry experts and IT managers alike. HighGround Systems remains the leader in this fast-growing segment of the storage market. Built on Web technology and with support for Windows NT, Windows 2000, UNIX and Linux operating systems; storage-intensive applications such as Microsoft Exchange and direct-attach, SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network Attached Storage) storage topologies; SRM is the industry's most comprehensive storage infrastructure monitoring, analysis, reporting and event management solution. HighGround customers who depend on storage for their critical ebusiness operations utilize SRM to efficiently manage growth and change in their storage requirements, lower the total cost of storage ownership, exceed service level agreements, and accurately forecast future storage needs. HighGround can be reached toll-free at 800-395-9385; via e-mail at info@highground.com; or via the World Wide Web at www.highground.com.

Contact Samantha Moulton, Public Relations Manager 508-460-5152 x278, or smoulton@highground.com.