Drobo & Carbonite Partner Up On Small Biz Storage

Boy, managing storage just keeps getting easier and easier. Drobo makes super-easy-to-use onsite storage products and solutions, and Carbonite gives uses set-it-and-forget-it online backup and storage. Now, the two companies are partnering on comprehensive small business storage and backup solutions that include both onsite and cloud components. 

The package makes use of Carbonite’s new Carbonite Business ($229/yr for 250GB) or Carbonite Business Pro ($599/yr for 500GB) plans and is designed for companies that have 20 computers or less. Currently, Drobo business customers can buy a 14-month subscription to one of the Carbonite plans at the 12-month price.

For its part, Carbonite has really stepped up its game in the last year or so. The company has added several different cloud backup and storage plans to its portfolio as well as some interesting tools, in addition to this partnership with Drobo. Drobo has also come a long way in a relatively short time; its Drobo The Storage Robot days are long gone.



Industry Leaders Join Forces to Make Cloud Backup Simple, Accessible, and Affordable for Small Businesses

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 17, 2011) - Drobo, makers of award-winning data storage products for businesses and professionals, and Carbonite Inc., a leading provider of online backup solutions which provide customers with "anytime, anywhere access" to their stored files, today announced a partnership under which the companies will collaborate to provide small businesses the easiest and most affordable onsite storage and cloud backup solution in the industry.

Pursuant to the partnership, Drobo business customers can purchase a 14-month subscription of Carbonite's new Business or Premier Business cloud backup solution for the price of a 12-month plan. When combined with Drobo's ease-of-use and onsite data protection, the new Carbonite small business offerings (introduced on June 15th) help provide the easiest, most comprehensive, and most affordable offsite backup solution for companies with 20 or fewer computers.

"Our customers value easy and affordable data protection," said Tom Buiocchi, CEO of Drobo. "Carbonite adds the easiest and most affordable cloud backup to an overall data protection strategy for small businesses."
Designed specifically for customers who need storage capacity without the complexity and price of legacy storage, Drobo delivers sophisticated yet easy-to-use and affordable storage solutions for small businesses. Every Drobo is powered by the patented BeyondRAID technology that automates traditional storage challenges such as data protection, capacity expansion, and application performance optimization.

"A comprehensive backup solution includes both onsite and cloud-based elements. As such, Drobo and Carbonite already share a number of customers in common," said David Friend, CEO of Carbonite. "Our market research has indicated that small business customers would augment their existing physical data protection strategy with an automatic, cloud-based solution if it were affordable, so we built Carbonite Business specifically to address those needs."

Carbonite's small business solutions are tailored to meet the needs of two distinct small business groups -- smaller offices with multiple computers and larger offices that also require server backup. Carbonite Business backs up an unlimited number of computers per year for a flat fee of $229 per year (250GB included). Carbonite Business Premier backs up an unlimited number of computers and servers for just $599 per year (500GB included). Businesses can easily add supplemental storage as their backup needs grow.

"All businesses are thinking about storage and data protection as a single entity as they increasingly rely on digital information," said Brian Babineau, vice president, Research and Analyst Service, Enterprise Strategy Group. "The partnership between Drobo and Carbonite enables small businesses to affordably keep their most valuable information assets safe without the complexity that is usually associated with traditional storage and backup offerings."

Customers interested in the new offering can find more information at info.drobo.com/carbonite.