Five things to know: cloud storage firm TwinStrata

by Sara Castellanos
Technology Reporter- Boston Business Journal

Cloud storage and backup firm TwinStrata Inc. is growing fast and plans to expand with new employees at its headquarters in Natick, Mass., this year, according to CEO and co-founder Nicos Vekiarides.

Here are five things to know about the company:

Latest product. TwinStrata launched its new disaster recovery offering in May 2013, which has seen plenty of demand from companies, Vekiarides said. The technology allows companies to recover data in an event of a power outage in hours or minutes, as opposed to days, Vekiarides said. Customers also save about 90 percent of what they would otherwise spend on disaster recovery services with hardware infrastructure, he said. “Not only do we help (customers) store that data, but we also help them recover it in a way that doesn’t require them to purchase that infrastructure,” he said.

Other products. The company also makes CloudArray, its software and hardware storage technology intended to serve as an alternative to off-site storage. The product provides features such as deduplication, bandwidth optimization, dynamic caching, in-flight/at-rest data encryption and reportedly easy access to restored data.

Customers. More than 600 CloudArray installations were made in 2013, representing a 77 percent increase over 2012, according to the company. Vekiarides said the company is aiming to surpass 1,000 installations this year. Customers include the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Waltham, Mass.-based security software firm Bit9; and St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass.

Employees. TwinStrata has 40 employees, with 10 being added last year. Vekiarides said the company expects to grow the employee base by up to 25 percent this year.

Founders and funding. The company was co-founded by Vekiarides, former general manager of the storage virtualization business at Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), and John Bates, current CTO of TwinStrata and also an HP alumnus. TwinStrata has raised a total of $13 million in funding; TwinStrata closed an $8 million Series B round in 2011, led by Avalon Ventures of Cambridge.