Founder & CEO | HighVail Systems | March 2024
In order to best understand where HighVail is coming from, let me provide a little context. I was first exposed to NetBackup three decades ago, when it was part of Open Vision. They took on the task of repurposing a technology that was primarily servicing VMS (DEC PDP & VAX) to newly accommodate open system technologies such as UNIX, OpenVMS, and other network operating systems prevalent at the time.
Working within the Sun Microsystems domain, where SunOS (later rebranded as Solaris) reigned supreme, I witnessed NetBackup’s pivotal role in addressing prevalent data management and protection challenges in financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications and engineering environments. As system installations grew in scale, NetBackup proved instrumental in resolving emerging issues.
Over time, NetBackup emerged as the leading data protection platform for Open Systems. Prior to being acquired by Veritas (who addressed challenges with the Unix File System (UFS) and volume management in large-scale installations), Open Vision expanded its portfolio to include solutions that addressed High Availability in the open systems arena. Following the acquisition, Veritas further expanded on those efforts, delving into delivering high–availability at the OS level. Thus, Veritas’s acquisition of Open Vision in 1997 was a logical step. Together, they dominated data management and protection in Open Systems, fueling exponential growth and eventually leading to Veritas’s acquisition by Symantec. Symantec’s aim was to create a powerhouse in data protection and cybersecurity, yet the respective company differences proved too difficult, resulting in their demerger in early 2016.
If you’re already familiar with HighVail, you know our name is synonymous with High Availability (HA). When my partner Glen MacDonald and I founded the company, he was among the earliest in Canada to earn certification on Veritas Cluster Server, making Veritas and HA an integral piece of our initial strategy. Our success and growth over the past two decades stems from a commitment to leveraging our expertise, resulting in significant benefits for both our company and, more importantly, our clients. Shifting our focus from “Sun/Solaris” following Oracle’s acquisition of Sun in early 2010 was a strategic decision that proved fruitful, propelling our evolution into becoming an Open Source-centric business. Now, you might wonder how this relates to Cohesity’s recent acquisition of Veritas, so please allow me to elaborate below.
Veritas Technologies, renowned globally for its expertise in data protection, availability, and insights, brings decades of experience and a robust portfolio of solutions to the forefront. Conversely, Cohesity has garnered its attention via its cutting-edge approach to data management, harnessing innovative technologies like hyperconvergence and seamless cloud integration. Together, these companies boast complementary strengths that, when united, hold the potential to redefine the landscape of data management and protection for the better.
While some acquisitions can result in market saturation or cannibalization, we firmly believe this one will yield beneficial outcomes, ushering in exciting new possibilities and innovations. The convergence of these two influential players in the data management and protection sector has ignited speculation about its potential impact on the industry and the myriad opportunities it could unlock for organizations like yours.
The Cohesity-Veritas collaboration promises to empower organizations with comprehensive solutions, integrating Cohesity’s proficiency in consolidating data silos and streamlining management workflows with Veritas’ formidable data protection and analytics capabilities. This unified entity is poised to deliver tailored, holistic solutions that address the evolving challenges of modern data environments. This pairing should drive innovation and research, injecting new energy into endeavours such as data intelligence, ransomware protection, automation, and hybrid cloud integration.
With enhanced customer experience and value at its core, the collaboration should aim to provide a wider array of solutions, seamless integration, and augmented support services. This ensures organizations gain access to a comprehensive approach to data management and protection, meticulously tailored to their unique needs and challenges. Positioned as a strategic response to the escalating demand for robust data management and protection solutions, the Cohesity-Veritas acquisition underscores a shared vision for the future of data management. By leveraging collective expertise, resources, and technologies, Cohesity and Veritas are prepared to lead significant innovation and guide organizations through the complexities of the digital era.
In conjunction with our partners (including Veritas), HighVail keenly understands the significance of your organization’s continuous data management and protection strategy. Every day, organizations like yours face subtle yet persistent challenges from cyber threats and ransomware. In response, we’ve developed a bundled offering called HighVail BackUp Managed Service (HV-BMS). This comprehensive security solution focuses on delivering a tailored architecture and deployment platform, where we oversee and manage your existing data infrastructure while integrating additional elements and tools into a unified protective shield of maintenance and management. Our all-inclusive, subscription-based service provides assistance with daily monitoring and environment upkeep, executing changes, restores, and on-demand requests, delivering status reports and proactive analysis, as well as implementing tactical and strategic improvements. Additionally, we offer break-fix support, remediation, and root cause analysis to ensure your data stays secure and available at all times.
Discover peace of mind that you didn’t know existed. Don’t leave your valuable information vulnerable – act now to protect what matters most. Contact us today for a consultation and fortify your data’s defences!
HighVail’s Backup Managed Service (HV-BMS) and Full-Service Backup (HV-FSB) offerings are designed to shield your organization from cyber threats. Utilizing Veritas NetBackup, we ensure that your critical data and applications remain available, resilient, compliant, and secure against evolving cyber threats.
At HighVail, we have years of deep and extensive experience in providing enterprise-grade data protection, disaster recovery, and storage solutions. We ensure that our customers have a cloud strategy that supports high availability, performance and flexibility and gets you through day two.
Together with Veritas, we help organizations of all sizes master the intricacy of managing and protecting their critical data. With an integrated product portfolio, Veritas & HighVail provide a cohesive data management experience that provides unmatched performance and versatility—edge to core to cloud.
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