IBM announced it has acquired Softek Storage Solutions Corp., a
privately held company based in Vienna, Va. Financial terms of the
acquisition were not disclosed; the transaction is expected to
close this quarter.
IBM said it intends to fold Softek's host-based Transparent Data
Migration Facility (TDMF) data migration software into its IBM
Global Services (IGS) division, within the storage and data
services business unit.
Softek and IBM have a long relationship; IBM has been a Softek
global partner since 1996. Softek's software supports mainframe as
well as open systems data and has come in especially handy in the
mainframe business, which continues to drive large maintenance
deals for IBM.
According to a note sent to journalists Monday morning by IBM, the
company said it sees "Software-based services solutions like
Softek's [as] IBM's silver bullet," and that it intends to
transition IGS "from a traditional labor-based model to one that
increasingly leverages repeatable, software-based services."
On a call with media Monday morning, Val Rahmani, general
manager for infrastructure management services, said this
acquisition is "the next logical step in the transition of the IGS
business to a preintegrated, asset-based standardized set of
products that can be rolled out globally to our customers." Rahmani
said the acquisition last year of Internet Security Systems (ISS)
was also part of that strategy. Softek's product will be sold as
standalone software, as a product-based engagement or as an
entirely outsourced service through IBM, Rahmani said.
Rahmani hinted that further acquisitions could be in the offing,
saying that IBM is still looking to expand IGS, but declined to
comment on what category of service IBM might next look to try to
expand.
According to Tony Asaro, analyst with the Enterprise Strategy
Group, "This seems like more of a strategic than a tactical
acquisition—this could be an undercover way of trying to get more
storage business with [Softek] as a foot in the door." One way this
could happen post acquisition, according to Asaro, would be for
users to outsource data migration to IBM as part of an ongoing
tiered storage plan.
"[A] host-based nondisruptive migration tool for both open
systems and mainframes [is] a simple application but surprisingly
one of the most demanded in the market, as IT swaps out technology
or introduces new technology," said Arun Taneja, founder and
analyst with the Taneja Group.
One of the twists to the acquisition, according to analysts, is
a relationship between EMC Corp. and Softek -- EMC resells one of
Softek's products as the EMC/Softek Logical Data Migration Facility
(LDMF). Meanwhile, IBM has specifically called out EMC in its last
several product announcement press releases and again referenced
EMC in a note to media on the Softek acquisition, saying that TDMF
will give IBM "a rapid-fire data mobility strike force … allowing
them to trump EMC with a weapon it doesn't have."
"Right now, EMC has no choice but to remain partners with
Softek, but they probably should look into other partnerships or
internal development to get away from it," said Tony Asaro, analyst
with the Enterprise Strategy Group.
"Watch EMC accelerate the integration of Kashya product into
InVista now," Taneja said. "It certainly represents a network-based
alternative, but it doesn't do anything for mainframes."
Softek has close to 800 customers in total and over a dozen
resellers, including EMC, Fujitsu Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP),
IBM and Siemens. Softek's clients include British Telecom, KeyCorp,
Lufthansa and the Principal Financial Group.
TDMF is Softek's most popular product and was the basis for its
spin-off from Fujitsu Ltd. in April 2004. According to Softek's Web
site, the versions of the product available include TDMF Unix,
which performs local data movement on UNIX for tech refresh,
competitive replacement and performance tuning; TDMF Unix/Linux
(IP) for distance migration and server migration; TDMF Windows
(IP), which does both local and remote data migration for Windows
systems; and TDMF z/OS, for mainframe migrations.
"Most users probably wouldn't even know Softek has an offering
on the open systems side," Asaro said. "Hopefully IBM will be able
to make them stronger in terms of market penetration in that
area."
Softek also has data replication products similar to those
offered by Topio Inc. and Kashya Inc., now a part of Network
Appliance Inc. (NetApp) and EMC respectively. Softek's replication
is host based, which means it's "not exactly a head-to-head
comparison," according to Asaro. "But IBM could still position
Softek's products in that space."
The Softek product has its earliest roots in a company called
Amdahl, now a part of Fujitsu. Amdahl was a "huge competitor" to
IBM in the mainframe days, according to John Webster, principal IT
advisor with Illuminata Inc.
"It's a bit of a historical twist that IBM is acquiring one of
the last vestiges of them," he said.