'Data storage market today is vastly different from what it was a few years ago.'

A graduate in political science and economics from National University of

Singapore, Louis Lye began his career in 1992 with Sony International

(Singapore) Ltd. He joined Quantum Asia-Pacific in 1996 as a business

development manager for DLTtape products. Louis also had a two- year posting as

channel sales manager in Australia, where he spearheaded Quantum Asia-Pacific’s

DLT Storage Systems (DSS). He was recently in town to launch a range of

solutions from Quantum in India. In an exclusive interview with DQCI, Louis

outlines Quantum’s plans for the country.

How important is the Indian market in terms of revenue growth and market

share for Quantum? How do you plan to achieve this?



The market potential in India is really huge for Quantum and it contributes

1.7 percent share to the total revenue coming from Asia. At present India may

not be among the top few country-markets in terms of revenue in Asia. But we are

hoping to develop its potential to become a key market for us in this region.

According to market sources, in India around 70,000 NT servers are sold every

year. We are aiming at capturing three to five percent of the 70,000 file server

market.

What is your business model for India?



In India, we work only through channel partners and depend entirely on them to
provide the solution, integration, consultancy and primary customer interface.

We are currently present here through Ingram Micro and Apex. We will continue to

support our national distributors from our Singapore office. We also plan to

increase marketing activities to be managed directly from our office, in

co-ordination and support from our channel partners.

What is the key to Quantum’s financial strength?



Quantum has a long history of financial strength, with a cash balance of$399

million at the end of fiscal year 2001, and cash generation capability of

between $200 and$250 million per year. The key to this financial strength is the

inherent profitability of the businesses and the significant royalties on

DLTtape media cartridges, which continue to grow with the installed base of

DLTtape drives.

During the past two years, the business has generated huge revenues, which

the company has employed both in acquisitions and in significant share

repurchases. Quantum has achieved profitability levels and a return on equity

that are among the highest in the computer hardware business.

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001, Quantum DSS revenues were $1.4

billion and net income was $167 million, or $1.08 a share.

How is Quantum positioned in the fast changing data storage market?



The market for data storage and protection today is vastly different from

what it was just a few years ago. The explosive growth of data-intensive

applications is creating unprecedented volumes of digital information.

Protecting and managing this data is absolutely essential for today´s business

enterprises.

New storage architectures, transport protocols, operating systems and devices

have emerged. And more money is going into storage products and services today

than any other IT investment. To take advantage of this wealth of opportunities

and maintain its standing as a global leader in data storage, Quantum has

broadened its offering. It is now providing new solutions and services for data

protection for enterprise customers, and is continuing its leadership in

tape-based storage devices with the introduction of Super DLTtape.

What according to you is the future direction for the DLTtape group?



The DLTtape group is growing in both directions from its leadership in the

mid-range storage market. At the high-end, the group will continue to update the

range of Super DLTtape drives with the latest technology. At the low-end of the

market, the group has extended its relationship with Benchmark Storage

Innovations, which specializes in a range of DLTtape storage products.

The DLTtape group also plans to expand into the emerging markets for

integrated autoloaders and near-online storage solutions. An integrated

autoloader holds multiple tapes and uses a robotic mechanism to automatically

load requested tapes in and out of one or more tape drives.

Near-online storage is the state of data availability that lies between

online/real time and offline/archival storage for data that users may not need

frequently but must access very rapidly when required. Near-online solutions

will provide accelerated access to massive amounts of data while delivering

economical operation and data management.

Could you brief us about Quantum’s alliances?



Quantum is collaborating with a number of leading software and hardware

companies to deliver complete solutions to enterprise customers. We have

alliances with Veritas, Computer Associates, Legato, Tivoli, Quadratec, Network

Appliance, Cisco Systems, Vixel, Brocade and QLogic.

Could you elaborate on Quantum’s open storage networking initiative?



Quantum´s storage solutions strategy revolves around open storage networking (OSN)
initiative, which Quantum|ATL co-founded with Network Appliance, Veritas, Cisco

Systems and others. This alliance was formed to develop, sell and support

enterprise-class integrated storage solutions.

The OSN initiative is dedicated to open systems solution for storage

networks, making it possible for IT decision makers to build interoperable

networks with the offerings of different vendors.

The initiative´s architecture will enable computer servers, storage

appliances, automated tape libraries, and networking switching equipment to

combine seamlessly into enterprise-class systems.

The architecture will ensure that data is accessible anywhere via

industry-standard networks, and that it is replicated, protected, and easily

brought back online in the event of a disaster. By using industry-standard data

management protocols, such as Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP), the

architecture provides interoperability in a multi-vendor data server

environment.

A typical OSN solution includes Quantum configuration, integration and

support for a system with a Quantum|ATL library, Network Appliance filers,

Veritas software and a Cisco switch. Such solutions are presently installed at

companies as JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Exxon and Texas Instruments.

SUNILA PAUL in Bangalore