We say it all the time here at Data Centre Review — data is the most important asset of any company, and it’s one that they can’t afford to risk. Whether it’s a company’s vital files, or just a word document that an employee has spent hours crafting, it’s important to protect your data. 

That’s why we were interested to hear that Commvault is launching a new SaaS called Metallic, which promises to protect all that valuable data from being lost forever. Whether it’s a few terabytes or multiple petabytes, Commvault says that Metallic will not only keep that data secure, but it will also back it up to ensure it can be recovered in case of an emergency. 

Commvault & Microsoft

Metallic leverages Microsoft’s Azure architecture, with Commvault having worked closely with Microsoft on the development of the new backup and recovery service. In fact, one of the three offerings under the Metallic brand will be specifically geared to users of Microsoft Office 365. 

The three services are dubbed Metallic Core Backup & Recovery, Metallic Office 365 Backup & Recovery, and Metallic Endpoint Backup & Recovery. 

Each service offers something different for customers; for example, those choosing Metallic Endpoint will find themselves able to backup and recover documents that have been stored on local machines, while those with Office 365 will never have to worry about losing an important Excel spreadsheet again. Metallic Core does exactly what is says on the tin — it will protect an organisation’s core data, whether it’s a Microsoft SQL database or a VMware instance. 

“It’s simple. If you lose important data you can lose your job. We designed and built Metallic with that in mind. When data loss hits, Metallic gets it back fast and without any surprises,” said Robert Kaloustian, SVP and general manager of Metallic.

“Metallic is fast, secure, reliable and targeted at the most commonly used workloads in the midmarket, with enterprise-grade scalability. Combine these attributes with the ease and flexibility of a SaaS delivery model and we have a game-changing solution.”

Despite the close relationship with Microsoft, Metallic supports both AWS and Azure, with customers offered flexibility in terms of where they want to backup their data. For some customers, Metallic’s public cloud will be sufficient, while others may want to use their own public cloud service, or a mixture of both. 

Evolutionary, rather than revolutionary

Metallic isn’t the only SaaS backup and recovery service in the marketplace, however, with the likes of Clumio also competing in the space. Commvault is hoping that its reputation in the data protection space will help win over some customers, however, as well as the fact that Metallic is simply an evolution of its existing services. 

“Many of our mutual customers are migrating their applications and data to the cloud. One of the really interesting use cases for Metallic is protecting individual user information within Office 365. Metallic provides the level of protection and governance that every company is going to be looking for,” said Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president, AI & ISV Engagement, Microsoft.

“We’ve worked together for decades and Commvault has been right there with us in leveraging our latest capabilities. It’s exciting to see this new SaaS service coming along on top of Azure that brings together the best of what both companies have to offer.”

Metallic is available both as an annual and monthly subscription, although will be limited to the US at launch, with a global roll-out in the future. A 45-day free trial of Metallic can be accessed on metallic.io, and subscription-based plans are available through select launch partners.