Microsoft backs up disk-based backup plans

The company, however, will be entering a segment of the storage market that is already crowded with such established players as Veritas Software. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft will focus on the low end of the market and later try to penetrate the high end, on which Veritas focuses.

"Customers are telling us that backing up and recovering their data is labor-intensive and complex," Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows Server Division, said in a statement. "Exponential growth of business-critical data and new government regulations are increasing the cost and complexity of backup and recovery, forcing companies to rethink their data protection planning."