Veeam Software has announced a global partnership with Lenovo to make available Veeam Intelligent Data Management solutions with Lenovo Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) and Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure.

In the announcement, the companies say the integration will empower 'hyper-available' enterprises with "choice and flexibility to deliver availability, IT simplicity, scalable performance, operational efficiency and accelerated innovation."

Peter McKay, President and Co-CEO of Veeam, said, "Lenovo's global reach and extensive partner ecosystem, combined with the strong growth of its Data Center Infrastructure (DCI) and Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) business units, provides Veeam customers with the best purchasing experience."

The market alliance is targeting companies in the midst of digital transformation , and the assertion by the partners is that combining Lenovo SDI and SAN solutions with Veeam's Hyper-Availability Platform simplifies IT, mitigates risk and enables businesses to eliminate the costs and complexity of legacy infrastructure, virtualisation and data protection management.

John Majeski, who leads the Software and Solutions business at Lenovo Data Center Group, said, "Businesses want solutions that provide IT simplicity while delivering intelligent transformation across environments. Veeam Availability Solutions deliver the IT simplicity and Intelligent Data Management needed for Lenovo Spectrum Virtualise SAN solutions, as well as for Lenovo's SDI portfolio of ThinkAgile offerings with VMware, Microsoft and Nutanix to accelerate digital transformation while mitigating business risk."

Edwin Yuen, senior analyst at ESG, said, "The availability of Veeam's intelligent data management software on Lenovo SDI and SAN offerings will offer a great combination for customers. We are seeing more and more organisations looking to integrate their data management with their SDI and SAN solutions, simplifying their data center and core data management at the same time."

Africa's position

In August 2018, Kate Mollett, regional manager for Africa South at Veeam, said being open to this hyper-availability approach is a vital step with many in the SADC region showing a willingness to explore the potential of the solutions.

"With digital awareness at an all-time high, the time is now to drive this new way of thinking. This sees Africa being able to take the unique requirements of each specific market and integrate that with best practice from other global organisations," she said.

"For an African business looking to jumpstart this hyper-available readiness, finding the convergence between legacy and digital will be vital. But that cannot begin without the willingness to change, and first you must determine who will be your data champions," Mollett added.