EMC, Symantec Poised for SaaS Showdown

EMC (EMC) and Symantec (SYMC) are on a collision course again, this time in the software as a service (SaaS) market.

Both companies want a big piece of the so-called managed storage market, where customers pay a monthly fee to have their data backed up and protected over the Internet. EMC launched its SaaS storage platform this week. Symantec is expected to follow in February or so.

The stakes in the managed storage market are high. IDC estimates managed storage sales will reach $15 billion by 2011, delivering a healthy 33.3 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Similarly, many pundits think SaaS and managed services are safe bets for tech companies and investors during these uncertain economic times.

With that market opportunity in mind, EMC has launched a software-as-a-service platform that allows customers to backup their information to EMC data centers. Meanwhile, Symantec is putting the final touches on its Symantec Protection Network — which will allow technology consultants to offer storage management services to their customers.

Established storage companies have been buying their way into the managed storage market. Seagate acquired managed storage expert eVault in 2006 and EMC snapped up Berkeley Data Systems last year. Berkeley’s managed storage solution scales from consumers to enterprises. Start-ups such as Vembu have also moved into the market.

The range of storage options for MSPs will continue to grow this year. There are strong indications that Symantec will now launched the Symantec Protection Network in the February timeframe. Symantec has stated that the network will initially focus on managed storage, with managed security capabilities to be added incrementally.

Despite the lucrative opportunities ahead, mastering the managed storage market isn't easy. Symantec Protection Network has been in beta testing since early 2007 and was expected to become generally available in late 2007 or January 2008, but the official launch apparently has slipped to February so that Symantec and its partners could test the system more fully, according to one company watcher.

While Symantec will work with partners to engage small and midsize businesses, EMC's managed storage offering scales from consumers to large enterprises.

There should be plenty of room for both EMC and Symantec to cash in on the booming SaaS market. That is, if their managed storage platforms work as advertised.

Disclosure: none