IBM on Aug. 9 introduced another new business computing-plus-storage offering for small and midsized businesses, this one based on the company's standard System I base platform (server, database, storage, software and services), which replaced IBM's venerable AS400 server line in 2004.

The IT giant—along with a number of other data storage providers—has been focusing heavily on the SMB market for the last 18 months and has been producing new offerings for the midrange market more frequently than in the past.

The System I CBU (Capacity BackUp) Edition comes with a set of standby processors that can be used at no charge—without having to buy a separate license—in the event of a disaster, when extra computing power is needed for backup and archiving purposes. They also can be individually activated to support additional applications or roll swap operations as needed, George Gaylord, product manager for the Armonk, N.Y., company, told eWEEK.com.

"These systems are designed to be totally modular and flexibly run so that the user can configure exactly what he or she needs under current circumstances," Gaylord said. "This can save lots of operating costs right to the bottom line."

Mike Clark, systems manager for Unibill, a telecommunications billing company with corporate offices in Lake Charles, La., said his team tested their disaster recovery plan in real-time action during Hurricane Rita.

"We switching to our backup System I housed in Dallas after severe flooding left our communication lines unusable," Clark said. "Communications for all of our customers were rerouted to the backup system, enabling us to continue business as usual with minimal impact to our customers."

IBM is planning to make the new System I 550 CBU Editions, designed for medium-size customers, availabile later in August, a spokesperson said. New System I 570 and System I 595 CBU Editions, designed for medium-to-large enterprises, are available now.

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Pillar Data Systems, in San Jose, Calif., has introduced Pillar AxiomOne, a full-service storage management and data services suite designed for the Pillar Axiom platform. AxiomOne unites SAN (storage area network) and NAS (network-attached storage) management with a single interface and manages multiple data services capabilities for data protection and archiving, guided maintenance, and support, along with the operating system, a company spokesperson said.

Most IT professionals configure and manage their disparate SAN and NAS environments with multiple products.

With AxionOne, advanced data services, such as heterogeneous volume replication, file replication and continuous data protection, are delivered through a simple-to-manage, highly available, scalable storage system, Pillar Data Systems said.

"Our goal has always been to help companies simplify, consolidate and save on their storage investments," said Pillar Data Systems President and CEO Mike Workman. "We've always felt storage does not need to be too complex or too expensive."

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Storage giant EMC, in Hopkinton, Mass., made changes in its top management Aug. 8, naming a new chief financial officer, David Goulden, in order to allow the incumbent to help the CEO run the company on a daily basis.

Outgoing CFO Bill Teuber, who was named vice chairman in May, will now assist CEO and President Joe Tucci in managing the $9.7 billion company full time. Goulden had run EMC's customer operations for the past two years.

EMC also promoted two other executives. David Donatelli, executive vice president of storage product operations, will now oversee the company's entire data storage systems and software business. David DeWalt, formerly the company's president of software, will run customer operations and EMC's data management business.

Under DeWalt's leadership, EMC's Enterprise Content Management revenues increased 56 percent year-over year, achieving an annual revenue run rate of $630 million—about double the size of the business from a few years ago. EMC has said it expects it to become a billion-dollar business in the next three to five years.

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