DocuSphere Gets Hooks to ProStor’s RDX Removable Disk Technology

July 14, 2009 Alex Woodie

Image Integration Systems, a developer of the DocuSphere document and content management software used by hundreds of JD Edwards shops, has inked a deal with ProStor Systems, the vendors announced last week. The partnership is intended to make it easier for DocuSphere customers to take advantage of ProStor’s InfiniVault and RDX removable disk technology, which combines the speed of disk with the disaster protection and compliance aspects of tape.

Colorado-based ProStor launched its RDX removable disk technology nearly four years ago with the idea of providing a disk-based alternative to tape and optical-disk products for long-term storage. While disk has become cheaper and faster over the years, tape and optical have hung onto their customer segments, in particular healthcare organizations that are under mandates to protect data for a specified number of years. However, with the recent bankruptcy of optical disk maker Plasmon, vendors are scrambling to scoop up many of Plasmon’s Ultra Density Optical (UDO) customers.

The RDX lineup consists of 40 GB to 300 GB 2.5-inch hard drives installed in a shockproof mounting system. ProStor company says that, at $.40 per GB, RDX makes better financial sense than tape or optical, and with a 30-year shelf life, can lasts just as long as tape or optical. (Plasmon UDO drives, by comparison, were expected to last 50 years.)

Now, customers of IIS’ Windows-based DocuSphere suite of document and business process management solutions–which at one point included hundreds of i5/OS and OS/400 shops–can take advantage of ProStor’s InfiniVault and RDX technologies. The two vendors have worked together to ensure their software works well together, and that DocuSphere can use InfiniVault as the long-term storage tier of a multi-tiered document storage system.

“The seamless inclusion of ProStor InfiniVault into the DocuSphere solution provides our customers with automated retention, deletion, and access for their critical information,” says Brad White, CEO of IIS, which is based in Perrysburg, Ohio. “We’re looking forward to deploying DocuSphere with the archiving capability of ProStor InfiniVault and migrating customers that have obsolete technology.”