Legato Seeks Leg Up In Storage VirtualizationLegato Seeks Leg Up In Storage Virtualization

The one-time champ of backup and recovery software appears to be attempting a comeback. Legato Systems, which has been losing market share to Computer Associates and Veritas Software, is striking back with the acquisition of OTG Software for $403 million in cash and stock.

The deal, disclosed last week, will give Legato an advantage in the business of data-management automation. OTG's leading-edge virtualization software fools PCs and servers into thinking multiple storage systems are one. PCs and servers programmed to access data from one source can actually pull it from anywhere on the network.

Choosing where to store data, such as on disk or tape, is now a manual task, says Steve Duplessie, a senior analyst with the Enterprise Storage Group. "The next wave of storage management is automation, and OTG is in the automation business," he says.

When combined with Legato's Networker backup and recovery software, customers could save time and money on the amount of storage they need and complete backup and recovery processes in much less time.