HDS buys into unstructured data

Hitachi Data Systems has acquired content archiving firm Archivas

Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has acquired content archiving firm Archivas for an undisclosed sum. The move will give HDS software that enables organisations to manage, search and protect unstructured data, such as word processing documents, e-mail, images, drawings and audio files, more efficiently.

Archivas CEO Gary Voight stressed the importance of having an open archiving solution that companies can rely on to work over decades of data retention, irrespective of the hardware it resides on.

"The software is designed to avoid being blocked into any vendor’s hardware or software solution and to be a truly open alternative to EMC. IT has the problem of hardware changing every few years, but they need to make sure the data stays accessible no matter what system changes are implemented," he said.

A joint solution, dubbed Hitachi Content Archive Platform (HCAP), will combine Archivas' ArC with HDS storage arrays. It will help firms meet the growing burden of corporate governance, legal discovery, compliance and compliance management by setting retention policies and deciding when and how data is shredded or deleted, added Voight.

“The issue they have is that all types of content, including multiple data types, must be searchable and retrievable at all times, so that if the data is challenged in a court of law the owner can prove it has not been changed – it is not good enough to search metadata alone, you have to be able to search full content as well,” he said.

The deal may not come as much of a surprise to industry observers because HDS and Archivas first established a partnership in October 2005, and have been engaged in joint strategy and roadmap development, as well as collaborative sales and marketing activities, ever since.