A Round Of Applause, Please.

This month's column is basically a tip of the hat. One of the better partnerships I have seen announced itself this month with the development agreement between computing giant Sun Microsystems and storage powerhouse Imation.

The companies announced plans for Imation to develop Jiro technology software for Sun's network storage products. Imation also announced plans to offer a range of Jiro technology development services for network storage vendors. This is a championship team striking a blow for interoperability.

For those unfamiliar with Jiro [ldots] where have you been? Jiro technology, based on the Java 2 platform, eliminates interoperability issues between storage systems, management software, and network devices and is an important enabler of next generation storage networks. Jiro technology was developed through an industry-wide initiative launched in December 1998. Its published mission is to deliver technology that enables true interoperability and platform-independence for the management of storage, servers, applications, and devices on networks.

Yet who is doing the development? Imation? Imation is well known as one of the leading lights of removable storage media. Throughout its history, as an independent concern and as a subsidiary of 3M, the company has been at the front for original research in optical, removable magnetic, and tape media (and the drives that run them), but they are not well known as software developers.

I am convinced that they soon will be. Proof of competence in this industry is in the doing. Tom Awe, who directs Sun's partner and market development activity, reported that Imation met or exceeded the developmental milestones set prior to the announcement of the partnership. While Awe found Imation's Java skills interesting, he was even more interested in Imation's ability to build applications that solve management dilemmas in a variety of storage-centric situations.

The two companies share the interoperability vision. In a prepared statement, Imation Data Storage and Information Management president Steve Ladwig says: "Sun and Imation share a common view about the significance of storage in today's computing environment and the requirement for open storage architectures that allow true interoperability and automated management across all platforms."

So [ldots] why Imation? Because they have demonstrated that they can do the job. It is certainly a sensible way for Imation to extend and diversify and the partnership with Sun will enable Sun to speed up the release of Jiro-enabled products to manage network products, software apps, and storage.

So [ldots] why Jiro? There are other development platforms out there. Computer scientist Dr. Bradley Rubin, who is Imation's chief technology officer, told me that it was important for their position of independence to be in an open platform. He noted that Jiro addresses users in an open fashion. Additionally, Jiro's Java-based technology allows for interesting ways to distribute functions for better throughput.

Leveraging its new, but obviously sophisticated, storage software development expertise, Imation will initially develop Jiro technology support for Sun's storage array products, including the Sun StorEdge A5100 and A5200 storage systems, as well as Sun's storage management and data services software products. Eventually, Imation plans to extend a range of Jiro technology development services to other storage industry vendors looking to deliver Jiro technology-enabled solutions.

Interoperability is colossally important; this team looks like a winner. Congratulations to all parties.