Heavyweight announcement: Veeam acquires Kasten

 　　Containers in microservice architectures are the foundation for many emerging cloud-native applications. Protecting and recovering containerized environments has very different requirements than separate virtual infrastructures, and the strong combination of Veeam and Kasten enables organizations to protect and recover Kubernetes-based cloud-native container applications, as well as virtual and physical workloads, from a single cloud data management framework. Both vendors are part of the Insight Partners portfolio, and with Veeam already working with Kasten to enable application-centric container data protection capabilities, the next acquisition is arguably a no-brainer. Bringing Kasten under the Veeam umbrella will perfectly leverage this portfolio to meet the majority of data protection and recovery needs in multi-cloud environments.

　　--IDC Research Director hil Goodwin

　　We are excited to see Veeam and Kasten coming together to deliver the leading Kubernetes native backup solution. Given that we are using Veeam to protect business-critical data and infrastructure, and the growing share of Kubernetes in our environment, this combined solution will provide flexible protection for our applications and data, no matter what environment it is deployed in, and can provide ease of use to help teams scale. Now we have a backup and disaster recovery infrastructure that is perfectly suited for virtualized and cloud-native environments, which will enable our teams to move more efficiently and confidently.

　　-- arkus Kretzer, Head of IT, Buhl Data Services

　　Veeam®Software (Veeam Software), the leader in Cloud Data Management™ backup solutions, announced on October 10, 2020 that it has acquired Kasten, the market leader in Kubernetes backup and disaster recovery, for $150 million in cash and equity.

　　According to 451 Research, the leading research firm of S&P Global Market Intelligence, nearly three-quarters of organizations are currently using or planning to use Kubernetes in the next two years.

　　Veeam believes this trend creates a tremendous opportunity for the future of data protection, and the acquisition reinforces Veeam's commitment to support its customers' business transformation to the future of architecture. With this acquisition, Veeam will integrate Kasten into its leading cloud data management platform to enable modern data protection and radically simplify data management for the enterprise.

　　As more and more enterprises are focusing on applications based on microservice architectures, a new approach to application development has emerged, DevOps.

　　Containers are a key component of DevOps-led infrastructure and application modernization, and Kubernetes has become the dominant container orchestration platform in the market, creating a significant opportunity for a single data protection platform that encompasses virtual, physical, cloud, and Kubernetes environments.

　　Veeam recognizes the strategic importance of this environment, the growing importance of providing modern data management with deep integration with Kubernetes, and the growth of DevOps to improve quality, increase scalability, and accelerate application delivery while reducing day-to-day management.

　　With the Kasten K10 data management platform, Veeam is now able to provide enterprise operations teams with an easy-to-use, scalable and secure system that enables Kubernetes backups and application mobility with unparalleled ease of operation.

　　(Danny Allan, CTO and SVP of Product Strategy, Veeam)

　　Danny Allan, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Veeam, said

　　Veeam is built on a foundation of providing the best data protection for virtual and modern data infrastructures, and we have been expanding our offerings to include industry-leading physical and cloud-based environmental protections. With the acquisition of our partner Kasten, Veeam is taking the all-important next step in responding to the shift in customer adoption of containers to protect Kubernetes native workloads locally and across multi-cloud environments. This important milestone reinforces Veeam's continued commitment to deliver an industry-leading cloud data management platform that will support data protection for container-based applications built in Kubernetes environments.

　　The Kasten K10 platform can continue to be used standalone, and it will also be integrated into Veeam Backup & Replication™ to provide a comprehensive data management solution.

　　With Kasten's support for container workload protection and Veeam's support for virtual machines, physical servers, SaaS applications and cloud workloads, this industry-leading technology will provide all organizations with a single platform for modern data protection.

　　Niraj Tolia, CEO of Kasten, said

　　The enterprise landscape is changing as applications rapidly transition from monolithic to containers and microservices. kubernetes is at the heart of the infrastructure shift, and combining Kasten's innovation in Kubernetes native data management with Veeam's expertise in backup in local and multi-cloud environments will greatly improve the state of modern data management. Veeam's success has been a beacon of inspiration for the Kasten team, and we are excited to be working with a like-minded company.

　　Kasten will operate as a separate Kubernetes business unit within Veeam, and Kasten founders Niraj Tolia and Vaibhav Kamra will lead the unit - Tolia as President and General Manager and Kamra as Chief Technical Officer. In addition, all teams, including sales, marketing, R&D and customer service, will remain intact, and the business will continue to grow in the future through investment in people and resources.

　　Veeam's continued commitment to the Kubernetes community is also evident in its contributions to open source and other community projects supported by Kasten, including the Kubernetes Storage Special Interest Group and the Data Protection Working Group in Kubernetes. These projects are aimed at improving storage operations and enhancing data protection support for the Kubernetes user base.

　　In addition, Veeam will continue to support Kasten's open source project Kanister, which extends support and execution of data management tasks in Kubernetes, as well as the development of kopia, a fast and secure open source tool for managing backups.