EMC looks to BMC for storage management

EMC has picked up a storage management application from BMC Software in another sign of the shifting ground in the storage industry.

The maker of data storage equipment on Wednesday said it had acquired the rights to BMC's Patrol Storage Manager software - a single product within that company's Patrol line - which helps manage storage gear. In return, BMC will begin to resell EMC's ControlCenter software as the sole storage products for corporate customers.

Although BMC, based in Houston, has only about 50 enterprise customers who use Patrol Storage Manager, an EMC representative said that the storage maker is also targeting the estimated 5,500 customers who use other products within the Patrol line. EMC plans to continue supporting the product but also to phase it out as the company migrates customers to its own storage management products.

The deal is part of EMC's increased focus on increasing its hardware sales by working with companies that make software for controlling storage gear, a growing market within the storage sector. Software is seen as a critical component in providing companies with a stronger return on storage hardware investments by better harnessing the different capabilities of storage gear.

In April, Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based EMC acquired Astrum Software, a small Boston company focused on applications that manage storage equipment for businesses.

Other major storage makers such as HP, Hitachi Data Systems and IBM are also investing heavily in management software - especially for building applications that can work with their competitors' storage devices.

Sandeep Junnarkar writes for CNET News.com.