Imation buys Nine Technology

Storage vendor Imation has acquired intellectual property and other assets of online backup provider Nine Technology.

Imation, a provider of tape, optical and removable disc and flash drives, said Nine Technology’s deduplication software is the primary reason for the acquisition.

Deduplication software eliminates redundant data, enabling shorter backup windows, quicker recovery, lower infrastructure costs. Top vendors have been acquiring makers of the technology for the past two years or so. For instance, EMC purchased Data Domain in 2009 and Dell acquired Ocarina Networks in 2010.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Imation said Nine Technology will operate as a standalone service provider of data protection offerings. “Imation’s acquisition of this important data deduplication technology is another major step in our scalable storage growth strategy,” Ian Williams, Imation’s vice president global marketing and product management, said in a statement. “We chose to acquire this technology because we recognize the power of block-level deduplication. This will be one of the key differentiating features of Imation’s data protection portfolio for small and medium businesses.”

The acquired data backup and recovery intellectual property is a patented two-stage, block-level deduplication technology. “Imation needs block-level deduplication to compete effectively in the new world order, and Nine Technology is the right partner at the right time,” said Steve Duplessie, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “The combination of Imation’s global reach and recent storage and security investments creates a potent opportunity.”