EMC Shuts Down Online Cloud Storage Service: Info-Tech Research Group Analysis

EMC’s shutdown of Atmos Online this week has provided a cautionary note for enterprises looking at cloud services, according to Info-Tech Research Group. EMC has said that Atmos Online was originally designed as a proof of concept to show the value of the cloud, but in shutting it down it has proven concerns over the longer term viability of cloud services.

EMC has announced that, effective immediately, it will no longer be supporting “production usage” of its Atmos Online cloud storage service. EMC strongly encourages existing customers to move their critical data to one its cloud storage service partners - AT&T, Hosted Solutions, and PEER 1 Hosting - as soon as possible. Atmos Online no longer supports an SLA and makes no guarantees regarding future availability of client data.

Info-Tech Research Group’s recent vendor landscape on cloud infrastructure service providers ranked EMC as a Rising Star. From conversations with EMC, Info-Tech Research Group felt that they had the market presence to make a considerable impact on the cloud computing landscape, but that their limited marketing push early on was holding them back from being fully recognised and more widely adopted. Apparently, this was a far larger problem than anticipated.

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“Beyond the Amazon business model of renting out existing excess capacity, it is often unclear how new cloud players are going to successfully monetise the cloud,” says Info-Tech Research Analyst, Laura Hansen-Kohls. “The Atmos example proves that this concern should not be limited to smaller players.”

The most widely accepted explanation regarding EMC’s sudden abandonment of Atmos Online is the fact that it was directly competing against its own partners in the space. Hansen-Kohls also expects that it could have been due to customer growth not meeting expectations and/or the cost of offering the service was higher than anticipated revenue.

Info-Tech Research Group has outlined classic cautions for evaluating the cloud, one of which is the issue of availability and reliability. EMC’s latest move speaks directly to this and re-emphasises the necessity that enterprises who have committed to the cloud must have continuity plans in place in the case that a service is to cease permanently.

Info-Tech Research Group strongly recommends that all Atmos Online customers implement data migration plans immediately including e-mailing EMC for guidance on migrating your data to another provider.