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Sistina SoftwareThe premier storage infrastructure software company, delivering data sharing solutions for enterprise and technical companies.IndustryThe explosion of data in today’s enterprise environments has strangled storage resources. To handle this influx of data, organizations have been adding storage hardware at every turn, creating a disparate patchwork of storage systems. Storage infrastructure management software, which enables the sharing of data across various resources, helps solve the problem this patchwork creates. Sistina’s Global File System offers users a cost-effective, Linux-based solution that has the potential to transform the data center.Business ChallengeSchwartz began working with Sistina in August 2002. Sistina had been in business for several years, primarily serving the scientific and high-performance computing industries, but awareness with traditional enterprise buyers was low. The company, whose software was the de facto storage technology in the Linux kernel, wanted to build on its leadership in the open source community and position itself as ready for the enterprise.As the market for this technology grew and companies like SAP, Hewlett-Packard and IBM began to take notice, Schwartz continued to reach out to key media and began a PR process that would ultimately offer the executives at Sistina a profitable exit strategy.Schwartz PR StrategyOver the course of 17 months, Schwartz conducted effective media and analyst relations programs for Sistina that centered on:- Building awareness for Sistina’s core products, the Global File System and the Logical Volume Manager, and developing Sistina as a player in the storage infrastructure space as the company grew.
- In addition, Schwartz introduced the company to influential analysts who helped further build the brand and the strategy for the company.
- Schwartz worked with Sistina to raise its profile through analyst coverage, speaking opportunities and extensive media outreach and, ultimately, to position it as a core component of the enterprise infrastructure.
Results- The first PR goal for Schwartz was to launch the newest version of Sistina’s product, Global File System 5.1, and, in the same breath, re-introduce Sistina and its strategy to the marketplace. For this launch, Schwartz secured 26 press meetings during August and September. As a result, more than 20 articles appeared covering the GFS 5.1 launch. In fact, Byte & Switch declared that the growing popularity of Linux in the enterprise would help “catapult” Sistina into the enterprise and the extremely popular Web site told readers to “keep an eye on” Sistina for its Fall 2003 Top Ten Private Companies list.
- In addition, Schwartz re-introduced the company to influential analysts. In just three months, Schwartz was able to secure meetings with 23 different analysts at 13 analyst firms.
- Analyst relations remained strong following the initial launch. Schwartz outreach also helped Sistina secure significant coverage in analyst reports from Illuminata, Data Mobility Group and Enterprise Storage Group. In fact, the Illuminata report declared that “a product from Linux-software vendor Sistina Software offers a new and different approach, making blade servers easier to manage than their manufacturers—or Sistina, for that matter—ever imagined.”
- As a result of these efforts, Web site traffic spiked and Sistina began to see a shift in customer demographics. Of the 50 customers signed in 2002, Sistina’s customers in Q3 and Q4 were coming more from enterprises rather than the high-performance computing arena. Sistina felt that the marketing done in the end of 2002, including the aggressive Schwartz public relations program, influenced this change. Throughout 2003 this customer base again increased, nearly doubling in size in just 12 months.
- Sistina secured a second round of funding, totaling $10 million, in February 2003. This validated the growth Sistina saw in 2002 and the company’s potential. Schwartz worked with Sistina throughout the VC process—from helping with the presentation to the extensive media outreach following the closing. Coverage appeared in CNET, CRN, InformationWeek, hometown newspaper St. Paul Pioneer Press and The Wall Street Journal.
- Schwartz continued to arrange meetings with influential media contacts. Bylined articles and Q&A’s ran in several publications. Schwartz also secured non-news driven coverage in an array of publications, including CNET, Computerworld, InfoWorld, InfoStor, SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, SNWOnline and Storage Magazine.
- In December 2003, the effort of building the company brand was rewarded when Red Hat acquired Sistina for $30 million. This acquisition was said to clarify the status of storage networking software as a top priority in enterprise computing. It reflected a growing emphasis on Linux as part of ongoing moves to streamline data center functions. Red Hat has since open sourced the code for GFS and is working directly with IBM on bundling product offerings.
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