Through distributor Digital River, IBM’s self-titled Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files software will sell online from retailers targeting consumers and small businesses, at $35 per machine protected.
The scheme will start with North American chains such as Circuit City, OfficeMax and Staples, but will extend overseas, IBM said. The IBM product has already appeared on Circuit City’s website.
CDP for Files first shipped last summer, and IBM will not say how many licenses it has so far sold to its original target buyers, which were large businesses. The software automates the backup of file-level data, and saves copies of laptop, desktop or server files whenever they are changed. This allows IBM to tout the product simultaneously to large businesses and consumers.
Tivoli CDP maintains copies of multiple versioned files locally. Simultaneously, it can send those versions across a network to a central file server, which for consumers or small businesses is likely to be an ISP.
That differs from the laptop backup software that IBM itself and other vendors such as Symantec already sell. Those products complete periodic backups rather than continuously protect laptop data.
Other products with which IBM has taken the retail route to market include its PC of Despite its later demise did start well in the early 80s. IBM’s Prodigy internet service had a similar profile.
CDP for Files is however the first IBM software to be sold online to consumers and small businesses through online retailers – although IBM licenses its ViaVoice speech recognition to Nuance through an OEM deal.
