Will Help Spearhead Efforts to Educate Users on the Topic of File Virtualization
Lowell, MA - January 9, 2007 - Acopia Networks®, Inc., the leader in high-performance intelligent file virtualization, today announced that it has joined the StorageNetworking.org initiative at The University of California's Information Storage Industry Center (ISIC) to help further StorageNetworking.org's mission to educate data storage technology users.
"We are delighted to add Acopia to our growing list of influential industry sponsors," said Ron Durbin, industry relations director, ISIC. "Their expertise in the relatively new and increasingly critical area of data storage - file storage virtualization - will be a great addition to our knowledge base."
According to the recent TheInfoPro (TIP), Wave 8 Storage Management Fortune 1000 Study, Acopia is "edging out" its competition in the file virtualization space. The list of competitors included such companies as Network Appliance, Microsoft, Cisco, Brocade, and others. The study also showed file virtualization is now at the top of TheInfoPro's Storage Technology Heat Index™ - an effective measure of users' spending and implementation plans based on interviews with Fortune 1000 IT professionals.
"A most interesting takeaway from the survey is the obvious and pressing need for education in the space," said Kirby Wadsworth, senior vice president of marketing and business development, Acopia. "It's telling that file virtualization is at the top of the heat index, yet when asked which vendor they currently use for file virtualization, a large number of respondents listed a vendor that does not, in fact, offer file virtualization today."
"We are delighted to join with StorageNetworking.org, who in addition to the countless number of data storage end users, counts the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), among its members," he continued. "Who better to help spearhead this education process?"
To view a rich media presentation of TIP's Wave 8 Storage Management Fortune 1000 Report please visit: http://www.brainshark.com/theinfopro/storw8_smr_f1000_pr.
About the StorageNetworking.org Initiative
StorageNetworking.org is a university-based, non-profit initiative created and managed by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Information Storage Industry Center (ISIC) at the University of California, San Diego. Its mission is to assess and address the educational needs of data storage technology users. The initiative currently supports a network of local and regional storage networking user groups (or SNUGs), so that data management professionals can exchange information with their peers and other knowledge experts. It also manages an online resource portal that provides access to user group resources and industry-specific educational opportunities. For more information, go to http://www.StorageNetworking.org.
About the ISIC
The Information Storage Industry Center (ISIC) at the University of California, San Diego is a research program studying the business and economic aspects of the data storage industry. Established in 1998 as an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Industry Center, ISIC conducts research on all segments of this rapidly evolving and highly competitive global industry. ISIC is affiliated with UCSD's Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS), one of the world's top international graduate programs specializing in the Pacific Rim. For more information on the ISIC, visit http://isic.ucsd.edu.
About Acopia Networks
Acopia Networks, Inc. is the leader in high-performance intelligent file virtualization. Its family of ARX systems help customers manage the growth, complexity, and cost of unstructured, globally distributed, file-based information. By providing automatic, policy-driven, data migration, tiering, load balancing, and replication across multi-vendor storage environments, the ARX systems help IT executives to reduce management overhead and accelerate business workflow. For further information about Acopia's products and services, please visit www.acopia.com, call 978-513-2900 (US) / 49-89-944-90-165 (Europe), or email info@acopia.com.
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© 2007 Acopia Networks, Inc. Acopia is a trademark of Acopia Networks. All other brands, products, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated.
Contacts:
Nicole Gorman
Acopia Networks, Inc.
508-397-0131
ngorman@acopia.com
Ron Durbin
ISIC
858-534-4034
rdurbin@ucsd.edu