Evans claims the virtual server technology has a range of features that could attract businesses looking to protect their virtual environments.
Analyst firm DCIG appears to agree, ranking Arkeia third in its 2011 rankings for virtual server backup software, ahead of offerings such as IBM Tivoli Storage Manager 6, EMC Avamar and HP Data Protector 6.1.
The company's solutions provide support for physical servers as well, meaning it has both sides of IT deployments covered.
One of the company's main draws is that it provides support for a wide range of platforms over 200, including Linux, Mac, UNIX and Windows.
One of Arkeia's main draws is that it provides support for over 200 platforms
Notably, Arkeia doesn't offer WAN optimisation something some backup/storage companies do provide bundled into other offerings (as we saw with another company on the tour, StorSimple).
Evans claimed Arkeia did not need to offer such a service as its deduplication feature provides enough speed on its own.
Future gazing
Arkeia could be an attractive prospect to a larger tech company, as Evans is clearly aware. "The fact of the matter is, we'll do whatever makes sense for the shareholders. It's probably going to be an acquisition," he added candidly.
"The advantage of having a great technology is that it can have an impact on the market, but it's probably more worth more to somebody else than it is to us."
Verdict
Despite having what seems to be an impressive deduplication feature in its offering, Arkeia shouldn't rely too much on it as a differentiator. At the end of the day, deduplication is just one aspect of backup.
To ensure the future success of the company, Evans may want to expand the Arkeia features set, keeping customer needs in mind rather than worrying too much about share holder wants.
A little less confusion about what kind of company Arkeia actually is, and what its ethos is, might help as well...
