However, don't expect Tivoli's storage software to be able to manage EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) storage arrays with much granularity anytime soon. At present, Tivoli SAN Manager and TSRM are only able to tap into EMC's arrays via host-based SCSI calls.
Interestingly, TrelliSoft had already completed work in writing its SRM app to EMC's APIs -- but after IBM bought the startup, Tivoli is having to renegotiate access to the EMC APIs, according to Greg Tevis, senior software engineer at Tivoli. Tevis says discussions between IBM and EMC about providing greater functionality are "ongoing," declining to comment further (see EMC 'Wishes' for IBM).
API swaps have been a hot-button issue in the industry. Vendors including IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) are philosophically opposed to API exchanges, preferring to move directly to the SNIA standards. Others, including EMC and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), argue that APIs are necessary in the near term to provide full support for other vendors' systems (see HP Makes API Triple Play, HP, Hitachi Trade APIs, EMC, HP Catch Each Other's Codes, HDS: EMC Scuttled API Swap, and IBM, Hitachi SAN Compatible).
In the latest of such deals, EMC and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) earlier this month agreed to exchange certain proprietary information as part of the settlement of their patent dispute (see EMC and Hitachi Bury Hatchet).
IBM's Tivoli group is stepping up its focus on storage software after one of its traditional competitors in the enterprise management space, BMC Software Inc. (NYSE: BMC), abruptly downshifted. Last month, BMC decided to discontinue its Patrol Storage Manager and laid off a portion of the staff responsible for developing it. Meanwhile, another of Tivoli's rivals, Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) (NYSE: CA), has been steadily ratcheting up its attention to storage (see CA Nets Netreon, CA Spans Into SANs, BMC Folds Storage Unit, and BMC Lops Heads).
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