AppIQ Unifies Applications With Storage Resource Management to Deliver Unparalleled Availability and Asset Utilization.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 2002

The AppIQ Solution Suite Simplifies the Management

of Complex Storage Environments by Providing an Integrated,

Standards-Based Solution That Is Easy to Implement and Use

AppIQ(TM), an application storage resource management software developer, today debuts its storage management suite designed to unify the management of applications, servers, storage network and storage subsystems. By integrating business processes and the functionality found in disparate management point products, AppIQ can help organizations manage the distributed datacenter as an integral part of business operations to provide an unmatched return on assets. The AppIQ Solution Suite -- which includes AppIQ Manager, AppIQ for Oracle and AppIQ for Exchange -- is based on the Common Information Model (CIM), an open industry standard for managing heterogeneous storage networks. Purposely built to be easy to deploy and intuitive to use, the suite manages the application infrastructure as a system to provide complete control over the entire lifecycle from initial configuration and provisioning through eventual migration to new technologies.

"With visibility from the application to the storage device and everything in between, end users gain a distinct advantage that can be extremely effective in eliminating chaos in today's distributed datacenter," said Raymond Paquet, vice president, research director, Gartner Group. "To truly manage storage in a heterogeneous environment and link that storage to the application, you have to expand the view beyond the array. Additionally, by providing horizontal tools with a vertical objective, business groups are aligned behind a common goal which ultimately leads to a stronger bottom line."

Independent Standards-Based Management

The AppIQ Solution Suite is built on CIM, Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM), and the Storage Management Initiative (SMI)/Bluefin industry standards for heterogeneous storage network management. The implementation of these standards allows the AppIQ solution to interface directly with the key elements of multi-vendor storage networks and thereby enhances the flexibility of the storage infrastructure and eliminates vendor dependencies.

In another press release issued today, AppIQ announced CIMIQ, a comprehensive software development and deployment platform for CIM that is available to storage vendors interested in accelerating the development of CIM-compliant products. AppIQ also launched an associated partner program that has been instrumental in broadening AppIQ's device support. Charter members of the CIMIQ Partner Program include Brocade, Hitachi Data Systems, LSI Logic Storage Systems, Network Appliance, and Sun Microsystems.

"Standards will quickly move from lip service to absolute requirements for end users," said Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst, The Enterprise Storage Group. "CIMIQ is a great effort by AppIQ to enable the industry to adopt a vendor-neutral CIM adaptation for storage management. Through efforts such as this, I can actually see a day where all this stuff works together for the good of all."

To deliver rich functionality leveraging CIM, AppIQ has enrolled in API programs with leading industry vendors such as Hitachi Data Systems and Brocade Communications. For instance, the AppIQ Solution Suite uses the Brocade Fabric API, which is readily adaptable to CIM/Bluefin interfaces, for intelligent management functionality of Brocade SAN infrastructure. Brocade's stated direction is towards CIM/Bluefin compliance, thus providing a standards-based interface, further simplifying future integration.

Managing Application Storage Lifecycles

The AppIQ Solution Suite offers a lifecycle management methodology that is based on a three-tiered discipline:

-- Inform The Inform toolset provides administrators with continuous real-time monitoring and reporting solutions, and displays role-specific, detailed information and alerts in an easy-to-understand format regarding every aspect of the environment.

-- Analyze The Analyze functions leverage this information to assist IT managers in evaluating the IT infrastructure and responding to changing conditions. The analysis can be used to create sophisticated policies that execute as predicted thresholds are crossed. The AppIQ solution provides a unique opportunity to model the cost of your application data over time for improved cost predictability.

-- Act The Act functions allow storage and applications administrators to issue control commands for infrastructure management. Everything from initial storage server, network and subsystem provisioning to ongoing policy-based management can be conducted from within the AppIQ solution. Once policies have been created using the Inform and Analyze functions, the Act modules can automatically manage and deliver reliable storage service to the application environment.

AppIQ's best practices modules provide seamless integration of IT activities with business objectives including integrated asset management, chargeback, warranty management and real-time infrastructure cost analysis. AppIQ's chargeback module, for instance, enables organizations to employ both asset-based and storage utility-based chargeback for accurate accounting of IT resource usage.

Product Details

The AppIQ Solution Suite includes a storage management platform, AppIQ Manager, and two application modules, AppIQ for Oracle and AppIQ for Exchange. The components of the suite are tightly integrated to enable rapid deployment and ease of use.

AppIQ Manager

AppIQ Manager is an integrated storage management solution for managing the lifecycle of application infrastructures. Based on industry standards, AppIQ Manager provides the integrated management of applications, servers, storage network and storage subsystems in line with business and service level objectives.

The key to AppIQ solutions is a common information knowledgebase that aggregates detailed information on all aspects of the application infrastructure. AppIQ Manager correlates the related elements -- from the application to the storage subsystem -- into a single entity so that IT managers can view and manage the infrastructure as a whole.

AppIQ for Oracle

AppIQ for Oracle is an application infrastructure lifecycle management solution for Oracle databases that improves database performance, availability and cost of ownership. This is accomplished by integrating real time information from storage devices, network components, servers and operating systems with the application database and by providing proactive application storage design, deployment, provisioning and change cycle management.

AppIQ for Exchange

AppIQ for Exchange is an application infrastructure lifecycle management solution for designing, provisioning, monitoring, managing and migrating enterprise-wide Microsoft(R) Exchange 2000 application instances. Using Microsoft supported interfaces, the Windows(R) 2000 platform and other related services, AppIQ for Exchange allows the administrator to improve availability, ensure predictable performance, lower the overall cost of management and provide end-to-end Exchange infrastructure lifecycle management.

"Our announcements today signal an unprecedented move toward aligning business objectives with the supporting infrastructure," said AppIQ President and CEO Ash Ashutosh. "This alignment enables customers to meet the real time needs of the enterprise applications they support and easily solve the problems associated with growth, heterogeneity and interdependency. The AppIQ Solution Suite accomplishes this by managing the infrastructure as a system, integrating applications, and implementing open industry standards. The result is a simple-to-use solution that improves availability and provides a return on assets that is unmatched by other solutions today."

Pricing and Availability

In conjunction with today's product launch, AppIQ is officially announcing its Early Access Program and will be aggressively seeking beta customers in the coming weeks. The AppIQ Solution Suite will be generally available by the end of this year. Pricing will start at $10,000 per terabyte of managed storage.

About AppIQ

AppIQ(TM) delivers standards-based solutions that simplify the management of complex storage environments. Reduced complexity is achieved by managing the infrastructure as a system, integrating applications, and implementing open industry standards. The result is an easy to deploy and simple-to-use solution that provides more efficient use of existing assets, increased application availability, and quicker deployment of storage infrastructure and business applications. AppIQ is working with key storage vendors to drive industry standards forward and help pave the road to fully integrated storage management. AppIQ's technology partners include Brocade (Nasdaq: BRCD), EMC (NYSE: EMC), Hitachi Data Systems, LSI Logic Storage Systems (NYSE: LSI), Network Appliance (Nasdaq: NTAP), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) and VERITAS (Nasdaq: VRTS). AppIQ is also an active participant in leading industry standards groups including the Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF) and the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). Contact AppIQ at [e-mail], [phone] or visit www.appiq.com/news.htm for more information.

Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. AppIQ is a trademark of AppIQ, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.