EMC Corp. makes storage hardware that can serve in cloud implementations, and, through its Syncplicity business, has been offering storage as a service, competing with companies like Dropbox and Box. Just last month, EMC said the Boston Red Sox were using Syncplicity to replace FTP and consumer-oriented file-sharing solutions to collect scouting videos from around the world.
It turns out that the data-storage services business might not be a good fit for EMC, however, and the Wall Street Journal is reporting that EMC will sell Syncplicity to Skyview Capital LLC, which specializes in converting corporate divisions into separate companies.
Don Clark in the Journal quotes an EMC spokesperson as saying Syncplicity has achieved momentum but needs new features to support employees working on mobile devices. Further, Clark quotes Terri McClure, a senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, as saying that EMC’s sales team targets hardware buyers—not people who tend to purchase file-sharing services.
According to Clark, Jonathan Huberman, a Skyview Capital executive who will become chief executive of Syncplicity, said Syncplicity differs from Box and Dropbox in that Syncplicity allows customers to store sensitive files on premises as well as in the cloud, with Citrix Systems being the main competitor for such hybrid services.
Read the full Journal article here.
In related news, a Journal editorial reports that Chicago will begin taxing Internet cloud services. “As Web content services expand and become a regular part of American life, the government revenue take will expand too,” the Journal comments. “Think of Mayor Rahm Emanuel as an apparition on your sofa dunning you each time you watch ‘House of Cards.’”
