The SNIA Data Management Forum Positioned for Aggressive Growth.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Storage Networking Industry Association's (SNIA) Data Management Forum (DMF) today announced significant organizational changes that enable it to extend its leadership of the industry's migration towards more powerful and comprehensive data management and information lifecycle

"Organizations around the world are seeking standards-based solutions for the effective management of digital information," said Wayne M. Adams, chair of the SNIA board of directors. "The SNIA Data Management Forum is the industry focal point to lead the efforts to define solutions and best practices for addressing information lifecycle management, complying with industry regulations, securing and protecting data, and providing continuous access to data."

The DMF has more than doubled the size of its board of directors by electing industry leaders from companies actively working to deliver advanced data management technologies that provide substantial user benefits. The new board members are:

--Sheila Childs (Chairperson), Vice President of Product Strategy, EMC

--Asim Zaheer (Vice Chair), Vice President of Marketing, Archivas

--Phil Mills (Treasurer), Senior Technical Staff, IBM

--Grant Melvin (Secretary), Data Protection Specialist, Network Appliance

--Shane Jackson, Director of Strategic Alliances, Quantum

--Joshua Konkle, Technical Director, KVS, a business unit of Veritas

--Hement Kurande, Chief Technology Officer, Scentric

--David Martin, ILM Strategy Product Management Lead, Hewlett Packard

--Srinivas Viswanathan, Technology Office Architect, Sun Microsystems Inc.

--Ken Wood, Sr. Director, Data and Storage Technologies, Hitachi Data Systems

"The DMF leadership, which includes representatives from the foremost storage suppliers, is working cooperatively to facilitate the development, understanding and adaptation of the latest in data and information lifecycle management tools," reports Sheila Childs, new chair of the SNIA DMF and former chair of the SNIA. "Our initial goals include increasing active membership in the DMF and development and ratification of technical standards for digital information management."

The new board has acted quickly to build upon the DMF's momentum. Chairs have been named or reconfirmed for the DMF's three initiatives: the Information Lifecycle Management Initiative, the Content Addressable Storage Solutions Initiative and the Data Protection Initiative. A new marketing committee has been formed to help the DMF promote the benefits of data management and information lifecycle management to all members of the IT community. In addition, a new education and training committee will educate all interested parties in leveraging these new technologies to increase efficiency and effectiveness of their storage investments. For additional information please visit www.snia.org/dmf.

About the SNIA

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit organization, made up of more than 300 companies and individuals spanning virtually the entire storage industry. SNIA members share a common goal, to advance the adoption of storage networks as complete and trusted solutions. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For information, visit the SNIA Web site at http://www.snia.org.