HP closes AppIQ acquisition

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   November 2, 2005—Hewlett-Packard has completed its acquisition
of AppIQ and this week began shipping a new version of its Storage
Essentials management application based on AppIQ technology.
   he new release of Storage Essentials, version 5.0, features tighter
integration between HP's server management software and AppIQ's
heterogeneous storage management capabilities.
"This is the full storage management suite that we have been talking
about delivering since February," says Frank Harbist, HP's vice
president and general manager, ILM and StorageWorks software. "Storage
Essentials 5.0 is based on AppIQ technology and is now fully integrated
with Systems Insight Manager server management software."
                               
                       
                               
Storage Essentials provides functions
such as topology mapping, metering, chargeback, provisioning,
performance management, custom reporting, and other management
capabilities. The software is built on standards such as CIM, SMI-S,
and J2EE and integrates with HP's Systems Insight Manager (SIM). Tying
Storage Essentials in with SIM is the latest step in HP's plan to bring
server and storage management together under one interface.
                               
                       
                               
Looking ahead, HP plans to put its
R&D dollars in several areas to further this goal. Topping the
company's list of priorities are blade server management and
heterogeneous storage management.
                               
                       
                               
Over the next year, HP will focus on
multi-vendor storage support, offering new features such as cluster
visualization and reporting, support for Tru64 and OpenVMS systems,
backup reporting, NAS management, tape management integration, and
iSCSI reporting, according to Harbist. On the server front, HP plans to
build out automation technology for its BladeSystem environments as
well as grid management and enhanced reporting tools.
                               
                       
                               
During its stint as a stand-alone
company, AppIQ was successful in cultivating development and OEM
partnerships with a wide variety of storage vendors, which could now
give HP an edge in the race for heterogeneous storage management,
according to analysts. AppIQ's software supports a slew of storage
devices and applications from vendors such as Brocade, Cisco, EMC,
Emulex, Engenio, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, McData, Network Appliance,
QLogic, Sun, and 3PAR.
                               
                       
                               
In some cases, AppIQ has worked with
vendors to help them comply with the Storage Management Initiative
Specification (SMI-S) standard, and in other cases AppIQ has used SMI-S
to interface with other vendors' proprietary APIs.
                               
                       
                               
AppIQ's technology provides out-of-band
discovery, monitoring, and provisioning, as well as fabric- and
application-based management functions.
                               
                       
                                AppIQ's Ash Ashutosh, now CTO of storage
management software at HP, thinks the biggest benefits of the
acquisition will be felt by channel partners. "There were a number of
things we put on hold because AppIQ was a small company and there was a
nagging feeling among partners about our survivability," says Ashutosh.
"The acquisition is a win for our OEM partners because there are no
longer concerns about AppIQ's longevity. We now have a long-term
strategy, and HP brings huge resources to our development team."

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