Start-Up Datacastle Delivers SaaS Combining CDP With Data Security and Vulnerability Mitigation

Datacastle is introducing its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
solution through
the Managed Service Provider (MSP) channel at a time when
the data
protection market is maturing rapidly, and EMC and IBM have
recently
acquired early-to-market continuous data protection (CDP)
technology firms.
Increasingly, enterprises are evaluating and seeking to
deploy an
affordable and unbreakable approach to endpoint data protection.
Founded in
2005 to solve the challenges that expose enterprises to
preventable data
security risks, gaps in compliance and erosion of brand
value, Datacastle
is an emerging, innovative software company led by former
Microsoft Product
Leader, Gary Sumner.

"Datacastle software has been engineered from the ground
up to overcome the
problems that can compromise data security when working
from endpoint
devices," said Gary Sumner, CEO of Datacastle. "In overcoming
the
limitations of conventional continuous data protection technologies,
ranging from user behavioral factors to technology and infrastructure
inefficiencies, Datacastle enables the virtual workforce
to work with data
more securely than ever before. In collaboration with our
Managed Service
Provider partners, Datacastle is making Endpoint Data Protection
easy to
use, unobtrusive and unbreakable for enterprises that are
otherwise at risk
of not only losing vital data, but also jeopardizing their
business
credibility and value."

"Enterprises more than ever need to maximize their employees’
contribution
by enabling them to work virtually using their most sensitive
data wherever
and whenever needed, while also mitigating the constantly
present security
threats," said Marilyn Nelson, Vice President Marketing
and Communications,
Getronics. "Our Information Risk Management practice and
the International
Information
Integrity Institute (I-4) have been advocating
the importance of
protecting information across all models, especially SaaS.
This offer comes
at an important time when so many industries are considering
virtualization
and SaaS."

The new enhancements establish Datacastle Endpoint Data
Protection as the
first comprehensive solution that stands up to the privacy
requirements
needed to support regulatory compliance, while protecting
brand value and
ensuring that key enterprise intellectual property is not
accidentally lost
or stolen. Using Datacastle’s Software-as-a-Service architecture
operated
by trusted MSPs, enterprises can now equip their virtual
workforces to
utilize sensitive data outside the four walls of the corporate
LAN with the
comfort of knowing that their data is backed up to the minute
and can never
fall into the wrong hands.

"Customers are tired of purchasing, deploying and managing
point products,"
said Dave Russell, Research Vice President, Storage Technologies
and
Strategies for Gartner. "Today customers often implement
disparate tools
for near-CDP, encryption key management and data vulnerability
management,
but the marketplace needs to evolve to a more unified endpoint
data
protection solution."

The Datacastle Endpoint Data Protection solution includes
five key
components enabling comprehensive endpoint security and
enterprise scale:

• Continuous Data Protection Engine: The Datacastle CDP Engine
  incorporates
  transparent and seamless background operation including
  up the minute data
  back-up; offline data file protection; automatic resumption
  of data
  transmission once online; and policy-enabled unlimited multi-versioning
  to
  support regulatory data retention requirements.
• Unbreakable Security and Privacy: Datacastle offers industry
  best practice
  AES-256 encryption (Advanced Encryption Standard) with the
  additional
  security of randomly generated Master Encryption Keys (MEK).
  Datacastle’s
  unique, patent-pending automated MEK management and escrow
  technology
  provides 3 layers of encryption, ensuring your data will
  not be compromised
  while also enabling millions of keys to be managed securely
  in a
  multi-tenant environment. The Datacastle storage and encryption
  methodology ensures that all metadata is encrypted. Other
  data protection
  offerings often do not encrypt file and folder hierarchy
  and metadata,
  allowing insight to the information being protected and
  therefore violating
  data privacy regulations.
• Data Vulnerability Mitigation: The new Lock-Wipe-Trace™
  feature Locks the
  device via data encryption on the local disk; Wipes the
  selected files when
  the device is out of policy; and Traces the device via the
  Internet if it
  is lost or stolen. Datacastle is the only solution provider
  that offers
  this feature in conjunction with CDP — ensuring that if
  a laptop computer
  goes missing, data is wiped but not lost because it is backed
  up.
• Infrastructure Optimization: With Datacastle, set-up and
  restoration are
  easy. There is no drain on corporate assets — whether those
  are IT staff,
  the network, the servers, the storage, the laptop or the
  virtual workers
  themselves. The Datacastle solution optimizes storage and
  network
  economies. Datacastle provides the industry’s only source-based
  global data
  de-duplication of encrypted data offering significant infrastructure
  savings to enterprises and service providers alike.
• Software-as-a-Service Model: Datacastle is delivered through
  the
  Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model via Managed Service Provider
  partners
  that can provide incremental value to their customer base,
  drive up average
  revenue per user (ARPU), and optimize return on their data
  center assets.
  Enterprise customers have the option of deploying the Datacastle
  solution
  in-house, keeping their valued data under their own audit
  processes while
  leveraging their own assets.

Pricing and Availability
The enhanced Datacastle Endpoint Protection solution is
available in May
2008 through authorized Datacastle Managed Service Providers
and priced on
a subscription basis from $19.95 per user per month.

Datacastle