Storage stalwart EMC is terminating its partnership with file-sharing firm Egnyte, ostensibly over an unsanctioned press release.

Cloud storage company Egnyte announced an integration with EMC a couple of days ago, adding cloud capabilities to EMC’s VNX range of hardware with a new solution called Storage Sync.

Noticeably, there was no comment from EMC in the release, and CBR came in today to an email from the storage giant’s PR, saying the press release had breached EMC guidelines as the company had not seen or approved it beforehand, while it hadn’t tested the product, either.

Jen Sorenson wrote:

"Hi Joe,

"I saw your article, Egnyte Adds Cloud to EMC’s On-Premise Storage, and wanted to let you know that EMC did not test or validate Egnyte’s integration with VNX. The Egnyte press release was misleading, neither reviewed nor approved by EMC and in breach of the terms as the lowest-level member of the EMC Tech Connect referral program. Egnyte is being terminated from the Tech Connect program."

Now things appear to be up in the air. Egnyte said "the full picture is not clear yet", and cannot confirm whether it has actually been chucked off EMC’s Tech Connect programme or not.

CEO Vineet Jain has defended the release, calling it a product announcement rather than a partnership announcement.

"Our core belief is that Enterprise File Services will be a hybrid solution. Moving forward, Egnyte will continue to integrate with market leading storage products," he added in a statement.

However, while EMC claims it’s not tested Egnyte’s product, Egnyte said Storage Sync is in beta testing with customers.

The integration, if Egnyte’s release is to be believed, enables EMC customers to make their storage hardware into file-sharing platforms, sending files via the cloud to any location and to any devices.

It also allows companies to manage all files across their data centres, in remote offices and in the cloud, as well as getting one view of all their stored data.

It is not clear if this integration will be axed along with Egnyte’s participation in EMC’s partner programme – it offers benefits to the storage vendor as well as the file-sharing firm.

CBR was due to be speaking with Jain later today to hopefully throw some light on these unanswered questions.

Picture: Vineet Jain