McDATA Connectors Save Customers Time, Money Through Industry's Most Comprehensive API Strategy
McDATA's API Architecture Provides Broadest Range of Support For Storage Networking Technologies
BROOMFIELD, Colo., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- McDATA® Corporation (Nasdaq: MCDTA; MCDT), the worldwide leader in open storage networking solutions, today announced the suite of services, called McDATA Connectors, that comprise the industry's most comprehensive Application Programming Interface (API) strategy. McDATA's Connectors will offer the broadest range of support for storage networking fabrics and third-party application integration, providing customers with greater freedom of choice, investment protection and resource optimization. Connectors are an important building block of McDATA's Epoch(TM) Software Architecture, a comprehensive storage networking software architecture that encompasses McDATA's entire software suite. McDATA's API strategy, or Connectors, provides customers value from the firmware and element levels to the fabric and application levels, which currently are not fully supported by any other storage network vendor.
``From a customer perspective, it's extremely important for storage networking vendors to work together to create open APIs, thereby enabling interoperability among a wide variety of storage management applications,'' said John Webster, analyst for Illuminata. ``In the absence of APIs generated by open standards consortia, programs such as McDATA Connectors are presently the only way to get to storage management interoperability.''
McDATA Connectors allow customers to implement best-of-breed applications and elements specifically suited to their storage networking needs with the assurance that the McDATA and partner technologies are fully supported. That support extends beyond the element level, to the fabric and application levels. In addition to greater freedom of choice, McDATA Connectors protect customers' prior investments by providing support for legacy applications and equipment. McDATA's API strategy will help reduce manual intervention through policy-based and automated management, making resource optimization a reality for customers. McDATA Connectors will allow customers to manage their end-to-end, multi-vendor systems from a single point of control.
``Compaq supports open standards among storage networking vendors, and McDATA's API strategy provides the access to the information needed to provide for consolidated fabric management at multiple levels,'' said Bill Mottram, director of external storage marketing at Compaq. ``We applaud McDATA's commitment to providing such a broad range of support for the management of storage networking devices and applications.''
McDATA's Connectors will be strongly based on partnerships with storage technology vendors. McDATA's Connectors are targeted to partners such as EMC, IBM, Hewlett-Packard Company, Compaq and Hitachi Data Systems, as well as independent software vendors, storage manufacturers and storage network manufacturers.
``As longtime partners, Emulex recognizes McDATA as a market leader in the storage networking industry, and the announcement of McDATA Connectors reaffirms its leadership role in driving open standards,'' said Mike Smith, executive vice president of worldwide marketing at Emulex. ``McDATA's API strategy offers the promise of a more fully integrated set of management tools for storage area networks. Products and services that enable Emulex to improve the delivery of simplified management and investment protection add significant value to our customers.''
McDATA's API strategy will be carried out through its OpenReady(TM) Partner Program, which began in 1999 and now includes 22 partners. McDATA is working with the industry's leading storage hardware and software vendors to create the scalable, interoperable enterprise SAN products, services, and solutions customers are demanding. OpenReady(TM) allows partners to benefit from McDATA's two decades worth of experience and gives them access to its industry-leading System Integration Lab (SIL), making SAN solutions easier to create and more valuable to customers.
``McDATA's API strategy is the most comprehensive in the storage networking industry today. We will be the only company with APIs extending beyond the element level, to the fabric and application levels,'' said Robert Wright, vice president of McDATA and general manager of SANavigator Inc. ``McDATA is committed to providing its customers with the freedom to choose best-of-breed products, including all the major switch vendors, for their storage network solutions, by deploying standard API connectivity wherever possible, and driving the industry toward new management standards where they don't yet exist.''
About McDATA ( www.mcdata.com )
McDATA (Nasdaq: MCDTA/MCDT) is the worldwide leader in open storage networking solutions and provides highly available, scalable and centrally managed storage area networks (SANs) that address enterprise-wide storage problems. McDATA's core-to-edge enterprise SAN solutions improve the reliability and availability of data to simplify SAN management and reduce the total cost of ownership. McDATA extensively pre-tests its solutions to provide IT organizations with the comprehensive tools, methodologies and support essential to robust SAN implementation. McDATA distributes its products through its OEMs, network of resellers and Elite Solution Partners. McDATA and the McDATA logo are registered trademarks of McDATA Corporation.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements about expected future events that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Readers are urged to consider statements that include the terms ``believes'', ``belief'', ``expects'', ``plans'', ``objectives'', ``estimates'', ``anticipates'', ``intends'', ``targets'', or the like to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that could cause actual results to differ and vary materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, our ability to quickly integrate SANavigator and ramp sales, our relationship with EMC Corporation and IBM and the level of their orders, the impact of the general economic slowdown and the recent terrorist attacks on purchasing decisions by customers and capital spending, our ability to complete the manufacturing review plan and the successful implementation of an ``outsourcing-focused'' manufacturing model, our ability to expand sales into higher margin channels through system integrators and distributors, a loss of any of our key customers (or our OEMs' key customers), distributors, resellers or our contract manufacturer, our ability to expand our product offerings and any transition to new products, component quality and availability, the impact and uncertainty of typically having most of the sales volume occur in the last month and a significant amount in the last two weeks of the fiscal quarter, the development of the storage area network and switch markets, competition in the storage area network and switch markets, one-time events and other important risk factors disclosed previously and from time to time in our filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These cautionary statements by us should not be construed as exhaustive or as any admission regarding the adequacy of disclosures made by us. We cannot always predict or determine after the fact what factors would cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements or other statements. All cautionary statements should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE: McDATA Corporation |
