GlassHouse grabs top-three ranking alongside IBM and EMC in leading analysts firm's survey of data storage providers

Peers cite GlassHouse’s independence and focus on storage consulting as standout qualities as company makes top three for second year in a row

Framingham, MA – A Gartner survey of the world's leading data storage management companies ranks GlassHouse Technologies in the top three in the market along with multinational giants IBM and EMC, GlassHouse announced today. This was the second year in a row that GlassHouse has ranked in the top three with the two other companies, both of which are hundreds of times its size.

Gartner's report surveyed small and large storage professional service providers, asking each to name the second-best company in the market – assuming they would all consider themselves number one. The providers singled out GlassHouse for its "focus on storage consulting and independence," according to the report. GlassHouse was the only company named in the survey that does not sell storage products, focusing instead on offering completely product-neutral services.

"Top honors went to IBM (50 percent) followed by EMC (33 percent)," Gartner Dataquest Analyst Adam W. Couture wrote in the "Market Trends, Storage Professional Services, North America, 2005" report. "Surprisingly, GlassHouse Technologies came in third place with 17 percent of service executives naming them 'next best.' Although this is by no means a scientific survey, it illustrates how service executives regard their competition."

GlassHouse gives companies a coherent view of their data management procedures and plans the infrastructures for strategically managing data to contain cost, increase profits and meet regulatory requirements. The company provides consulting on data protection and recovery; storage management; storage business practices; and support services. Minneapolis-based Allianz Life, which provides fixed and variable annuities, life insurance policies and long term care products in the U.S., hired GlassHouse for a recent data migration project.

"GlassHouse provided an objective evaluation of our data storage and management resources, and a plan for building a unified management structure to support storage, backup and disaster recovery,” said David Kaercher, vice president, core services, Allianz Life Insurance of North America. "Their technology independence gave us an added measure of confidence."

Having Gartner recognize GlassHouse's independence validates the company’s efforts to build a reputation for offering unbiased advice, according to GlassHouse president and CEO Mark Shirman. "It's great to be ranked with companies like IBM and EMC, but the reason we are ranked is even more gratifying,” Shirman said. "We’ve worked hard to establish ourselves as the major source of independent, unbiased advice on storage issues. The Gartner survey confirms that our efforts are paying off, because it’s our peers that called out the difference."

About GlassHouse Technologies

GlassHouse is the leading provider of independent services that help organizations solve the business problems of enterprise storage. From strategy through implementation, operations and customer support, GlassHouse partners with clients to achieve predictability and manageability in storage operations, enabling cost control, risk mitigation and increased service levels. GlassHouse clients include Biogen Idec, Inc., Hartz Mountain Industries, Inc., Pitney-Bowes, Inc., Virgin Mobile and The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. More information about GlassHouse is available at www.glasshouse.com.