A good start for a business idea is to spot a good niche. One such niche is storage resource management where Danish software vendor Debriefing Software is aiming branch out internationally.
Improve other’s products
Debriefing’s Wizards Storage Portal plugs a gap for storage admins who want to analyze their storage environments via a customizable dashboard and over 200 preconfigured charts and graphs. Debriefing’s software is currently targeting IBM’s TSM, SVC & Storewize 7000 and Brocade switches. The storage admins specialise in maximising their storage tier by monitor day-to-day operations, how resources are utilised and prepare for making future decisions in their setup. The Wizards Storage Portal is designed to connect with the products mentioned through standard APIs. The information is hosted in the Debriefing Software cloud where storage admins, through a set of customisable parameters, analyse their own environment which means that the information can be also be shared with outsourced IT partners. This extends to a number of mobile platforms such as iPhone and iPad. Customers can also set their own triggers for issuing swift alerts.
Ramping up the portfolio
TSM customers are able to monitor how their backup environment is performing. For SVC and Storewize environments the wizards collects information on the nodes and their performance and utilisation characteristics. Similarly, the Brocade switches and their storage network characteristics can be explored. Debriefing Software articulates a growth plan that would eventually add other vendor’s hardware.
A services based engagement
The Debriefing go-to-market model is entirely based on resellers and their customers pay either by the number of nodes or on a capacity basis. The model is further encouraging partners who engage with their customers selling services in addition to the WSP licenses. The WSP software has gained ground at enterprise sized IT accounts depending on sizeable storage estates. The company has gradually grown into 100 customer installations in Scandinavia. With this customer base, a proven set of IP and storage growth continuing apace, the company is not unreasonable to try out its appetite for growth further afield.
Picture credit: CIRCLE OF LIGHTS by Luca Vezzoni