This time last month, Iomega key accounts manager, Bobby Kennedy, hinted to CSA about a partnership and the subsequent availability of a storage solution aimed specifically at the local price-sensitive SME market. Last week, the solution arrived, and the company believes that its introduction will turn some heads in the local reseller channel.

The solution, geared specifically at Microsoft Small Business Server users, comprises one of Iomega?s REV drives, bundled with five pieces of media, and two Computer Associates (CA) applications (BrightStor ARCserve 11.1 and eTrust anti-virus) with five user licences for each application.

"What this means," Kennedy says, "is that SMEs now have a shrink-wrapped, secure enterprise-level back-up and recovery solution, at a price point that will make sound financial sense for them."

The package, priced at just under R6,000 (US$957), aims to allow businesses to schedule back-ups of servers and workstations, as well as offering the security and reliability of archived data on hard-drive-based removable media. Using CA?s BrightStor ARCserve, small businesses can now also back-up SQL and Exchange systems using the database, and e-mail agents included in the package, as well as full image-based disaster recovery.

REV is Iomega?s answer to tape, providing the high capacity archival storage (up to 90GB per disc) of tape with the speed and reliability of hard drive technology. The drives come in a number of configurations, including Atapi, Sata, USB and Autoloader with 10 media slots.

The company says that the technology matches up favorably with current LTO-2 technology in functionality and capacity, but foregoes the chronic unreliability of tape, and costs close to half of what LTO-2 does, based on drive cost and media for a 320GB uncompressed back-up. Iomega, which turned 25 this month, has said before that it is determined to make major inroads into the local SME market.

The company has already been rated ahead of HP as the number three sub-$5000 NAS provider worldwide, and hopes that its new range of products (in particular its REV bundles) will further strengthen its current position. Both Microsoft and CA are also showing renewed interest in the small business sector.

Just recently, Microsoft publicized the launch of its small business road show and portal aimed at helping small businesses make it past year two, while CA says that it is trying to shake off its reputation of being a huge enterprise software monolith.

The industry has said every year for the last three years that ?this is the year of the SME?. Maybe it has finally arrived. Better late than never!