Short Takes - Financial Watch:

EMC, HP Extend Data Storage Deal

EMC Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co, bitter rivals in the slumping data storage industry, will make each other's software and hardware more compatible. The agreement essentially expands a deal Hopkinton-based EMC struck last November with then-Compaq Computer Corp which merged with HP last month. The industry has been walloped as cost-conscious businesses have proved more interested in tying together different storage systems with software than in investing in new, large-scale systems.

In the current climate, "you have to take advantage of all available capabilities. That means cooperating with everybody you can," said Don Swatik, EMC's vice president of alliances and information sciences. EMC will license so-called "application programming interfaces" to its Symmetrix and CLARiiON systems. Hewlett Packard will license APIs to its HP StorageWorks Virtual Array and XP systems. The hardware for HP's systems is made by Hitachi Data Systems, but Hitachi is not part of the agreement.

HP, based in Palo Alto, CA. also said the agreement did not amount to an endorsement of EMC's "Widesky" middleware, which EMC is hoping will become the standard for storage networks. Rather, it is a cross-licensing agreement that will help each company's software manage the other's hardware, HP said. The agreement would apply to about 70% of the combined market for Storage Area Network attached storage, company officials said. Shares of EMC, which was scheduled to announce earnings Thursday, were down $.37-cents to close $8.63 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, but gained $.9-cents in extended trading. HP shares were down $.69-cents to close at $13.57.

Debenhams Selects DataCore's SANsymphony

DataCore Software, a leading provider of enterprise-class, open storage networking software announced that Debenhams plc one of the UK's largest chain of department stores with 97 stores in key locations, has chosen SANsymphony for its storage management requirements.

"Like many organizations, our server and storage requirements are growing dramatically in response to business demands," said Robert Rooks, technical architect at Debenhams. "DataCore's SANsymphony met our storage management requirements, enabling us to leverage a best-of-breed heterogeneous environment and maximize new and existing storage investments. Through its centralized management interface, SANsymphony has enabled all storage allocation to be easily manipulated and handled via a single, intuitive GUI by existing support staff."

Debenhams was initially looking to purchase additional disk storage for its new and existing direct attached storage solutions, yet wanted the ability to effectively utilize these assets and manage data storage from a central console. Debenhams decided a storage area network (SAN) powered by DataCore's SANsymphony software would be the most effective way to manage its growing data, allowing the company to move away from a dedicated and proprietary storage environment.

"Debenhams selected SANsymphony to keep pace with its increased requirement for data storage," said Tony Probert, regional sales director for Northern Europe, DataCore Software. "As a completely open solution, SANsymphony is a highly cost-effective solution for Debenhams to significantly lower the total cost of ownership of their storage capacities, today and in the future."

DataCore, with its elite partner, Sagitta, has been able to meet Debenham's requirements by perfecting the process of storage management. SANsymphony's Asynchronous IP Mirroring (AIM) capability provides an alternative approach to business continuance and disaster recovery. The Network Managed Volumes (NMV) feature provides flexible functionality of storage on-demand and dynamic capacity allocation from network storage pools. Debenhams is using newly purchased disks for mission critical purposes and existing disks for development and backup/hierarchical storage management. Using centralized management, the allocation of storage network resources is facilitated through a simple drag-and-drop process.

"Naturally, Debenhams insisted on a storage specialist for this infrastructure solution. Sagitta was able to demonstrate high levels of technical ability, skill and experience in storage design, implementation and support," said Andy Norman, Sagitta Performance Systems. "By using DataCore's SANsymphony, which was tested and pre-staged in Sagitta's extensive technical lab in Havant, near Portsmouth in the UK, we have utilized Debenhams' existing resources and future-proofed its investment."

About Debenhams

Debenhams is Britain's favorite department store. With 97 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland, a home shopping catalogue and a ground-breaking website, Debenhams is committed to offering our customers greater value, a wider choice and excellent service across every area in which the company trades. Debenhams has eight franchise stores already established in the Middle East, Central Europe, Far East and Scandinavia, with agreements in place to open five more in coming years.

For more information visit www.debenhams.com.

About DataCore Software

DataCore Software Corporation's award-winning software automates and consolidates storage management for enterprise customers worldwide, significantly reducing their costs and increasing the return on investment from information technology assets. The company's SANsymphony software sets the standard for open storage networking platforms, supporting all major brands of disk arrays and operating systems.

It is available and supported through major OEMs, system integrators and resellers. DataCore is privately held with corporate headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. For international office locations and more information, call 877-780-5111 or visit www.datacore.com.

Avaya Announced Partnership With Infosys Technologies

New York Stock Exchange-listed Avaya, a voice and data networks provider, announced a partnership with Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second-largest software services exporter, in customer relationship management (CRM) solutions.

"Utilizing the skills of one of India's most successful integration and consulting companies will enable Avaya to undertake complex CRM implementation for Australian enterprises," said Avaya, a former unit of Lucent Technologies Inc . Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based Avaya counts among its clients more than 90% of the Fortune 500 companies, it said in a statement. Bangalore-based Infosys provides business consulting, systems integration, application development and product engineering services. It has more than 10,000 employees and more than 30 offices worldwide.

Avaya said the Indian company's strength in CRM could also open the door to other markets and opportunities for Avaya through projects initiated by Infosys. "Infosys' systems integration business in Australia is growing strongly and this partnership will undoubtedly present a number of new opportunities for both companies," Carlton Taya, the managing director of Avaya Australia, said in the statement.

The statement said Infosys is already working with Avaya on a number of projects in Australia and has some high-profile customers, but did not provide details. The partnership could help boost Avaya's sales by touting Infosys's ability to integrate various companies' products. "In many instances businesses already have software and infrastructure from other vendors. Infosys provides the capability to integrate these with Avaya's CRM solutions," said Ananda Rao, Infosys' country manager for Australia and New Zealand.

Infosys' shares rose 1.6% to 3,135 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange in early trading following the announcement, which was released just before the market opened. Both Avaya and Infosys are under pressure to expand business through strategic alliances and other means to bolster their appeal in the sluggish global IT market.

On Monday, Avaya posted a larger-than-expected $37 million loss for the AprilJune quarter and said it plans more job cuts as corporate customers continue to curtail spending. Its revenue tumbled 29% from a year earlier and by 4.7% from the previous quarter to $1.22 billion. Avaya's shares fell 2.6% to $3.80 on Monday, following the results. In March, Avaya announced it would cut about 1,900 jobs, or more than 8% of its then 23,000-person work force. Last year it cut 5,000 jobs.

FalconStor Joins BMC Software's ACSM Consortium

FalconStor Software Inc, a leading provider of network storage infrastructure software, announced its membership as a strategic partner in BMC Software's Application-Centric Storage Management (ACSM) Consortium.

Through this program, FalconStor can leverage and collaborate with BMC Software resources to deliver integrated solutions to customers focused on managing their entire storage enterprise.

BMC Software's ACSM Consortium allows partners to work with BMC Software to develop and market technologies that deliver application-centric storage management, ensuring data reliability and availability across heterogeneous storage environments. While IPStor is currently undergoing interoperability testing at BMC Software's labs in Houston, TX. FalconStor has developed a management information base (MIB) to work specifically with BMC Software's PATROL(R) Storage Management suite of products. With BMC Software's ability to perform device discovery combined with FalconStor's network storage infrastructure, software IT administrators can have complete confidence that their SAN infrastructure will be available 7 X 24.

"We are excited to have FalconStor as a new member of our ACSM Consortium," said Helmuth Klemm, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Storage Management, BMC Software. "Paired with BMC's leading storage management solutions and our industry-leading technology, FalconStor's IPStor is another valuable solution that customers can utilize to increase application availability and optimize the performance of their network storage infrastructure."

"We realize the importance of providing our mutual customers with an effective way to manage today's heterogeneous environments while providing unprecedented data availability and recoverability," said Wayne Lam, vice president for FalconStor. "Drilling down to the application level greatly simplifies storage management. Membership in BMC Software's ACSM Consortium allows FalconStor to leverage IPStor and its application-centric snapshot agents to provide a significant value-add to BMC Software and its customers."

FalconStor and BMC Software are working closely to leverage and certify products that are complementary and interoperable. Products such as BMC Software's PATROL Storage Management products and FalconStor's IPStor are undergoing extensive certification testing, so that customers have a SAN solution ready to implement right out of the box.

To read the complete release, including the Safe Harbor agreement, visit www.falconstor.com/bmcacsm.htm.