i365's EVault Endpoint Protection Provides Cloud Storage, Safety For Laptops

i365's EVault Endpoint Protection also protects endpoint data with local file encryption, remote data deletion, and tracking in case a device is lost or stolen, said Terry Cunningham, president and general manager of the Santa Clara-based subsidiary of storage vendor Seagate.

Cunningham, quoting data from analyst firm IDC, said that at least 60 percent of a company's important data is sitting on laptop PCs, and that the average estimated value of data carried by business travelers is about $500,000. He also said that about 12,000 laptops are lost in U.S. airports every week.

"So we have a couple questions," he said. "First, how do I make sure data on my laptop is backed up? And if my laptop is lost or stolen, what do I do? What am I supposed to report about the loss? If I'm in a regulated industry, do I report it?"

i365's answer is its EVault Endpoint Protection technology which automatically backs up the data stored on users' desktop and laptop PCs.

Cunningham said EVault Endpoint Protection provides centralized, policy-based protection with automatic continuous backing up of endpoint data to i365's EVault storage cloud while allowing users to handle their own data restores without requiring help from their company's IT administrators.

The backups automatically go through a global deduplication process, and are compressed and encrypted. i365 also provides WAN-optimization technology to reduce bandwidth, and also allow a company to manually throttle the backup bandwidth, he said.

More importantly, EVault Endpoint Protection locks down data to prevent its use or misuse if a portable PC is lost or stolen. It includes the ability to shut down PC ports to prevent data leakage, and can track a lost or stolen PC by monitoring communication with the protection server. Furthermore, EVault Endpoint Protection can remotely "shred" or delete all the data on the PC on command or by policy, he said.

"Backups have been going on for decades, but not with security," he said. "We solved the problem. Now the guy who has been backing up data can sleep at night."

The service lists for $12.99 per laptop per month, and includes 10 GBs of cloud storage capacity, Cunningham said. That price includes all the backup, restore, and security features.

Until its release of EVault Endpoint Protection, i365's primary target customer was businesses looking to provide cloud storage to their server environments, Cunningham said. "This is our first user-centric product," he said. "We expect it will bring a lot of customers to our server product."

Solution providers who work with EVault Endpoint Protection will find opportunities beyond just selling the technology, Cunningham said.

"They can offer managed services around it," he said. "VARs can add such services as managing and monitoring a customer's entire laptop environment and serve as a helpdesk on behalf of the customer. So if there's a problem with a lost laptop, the VAR can tell the customer, 'I traced it, called the cops, deleted the data, and even replaced the laptop.' The customer won't need a whole team to do this."