Seagate Software Inc has acquired Kodak division Eastman Software Inc’s hierarchical storage management software in a $10m cash deal. Seagate will take on Eastman’s Storage Management Group – a key buy because Eastman SMG developed the HSM applet with Microsoft Corp that is expected to be included with Windows NT 5.0. Seagate similarly developed backup and disaster recovery utilities for NT 5.0, and already has a reseller agreement with Eastman for the software, which it sold under the name Advanced Storage for Windows NT. It has also been working with Eastman on the joint development of backup software for NT. Scotts Valley, California-based Seagate says it will incur a one of charge of between $6m and $7m in connection with the acquisition. The pairing of its technology with the Eastman utility will give Seagate a stronger position in the future NT storage market, it reckons, a high growth area. Eastman’s Boulder, Colorado-based storage software facility will be retained for development work, said Seagate.
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