Features - Financial Plays Of The Week:

GlassHouse TECHNOLOGIES ACQUIRES THE STORAGE GROUP

GlassHouse Technologies Inc announced it has finalized a letter of intent to acquire The Storage Group, a San Diego-based consultancy providing storage consulting services to end user clients, as well as insight and analysis to OEMs and vendors of storage and backup products. As part of the acquisition, W. Curtis Preston, an industry thought leader and recognized backup expert, will join GlassHouse as vice president of service development, reporting to Chief Technology Officer Jim Damoulakis. The deal is expected to close in July.

Backup and restore continue to pose vexing problems to IT managers, presenting particular challenges for enterprise compliance and disaster recovery efforts. Preston's reputation as an expert practitioner and backup specialist brings additional depth to GlassHouse's strong backup strategy, implementation and operations practice.

"Knowledge experts in the field of storage, such as Curtis, see the traction GlassHouse has gained with enterprise clients, and they're joining GlassHouse as a way to deliver high-value services to their customers. GlassHouse has become the place where the best minds in the industry are coming together," said Mark Shirman, president and CEO of GlassHouse. "Our clients will benefit from the addition of Curtis to our strong team of technical experts. His experience in designing and implementing complex backup and storage solutions further extends our ability to deliver strategy, implementation and operational services to our clients. The acquisition boosts our first-mover advantage in the storage services market."

GlassHouse provides clients in the Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 with storage, backup, archiving, and disaster recovery services and consulting. Within these areas of expertise, the company offers strategic, design and implementation, and operational services that range from storage assessments to managed outsourced operational services.

Preston, author of UNIX Backup and Recovery and Using SANs and NAS (published by O'Reilly & Associates), has extensive experience designing, implementing and managing enterprise-wide storage systems for companies including Amazon.com, Intuit, Standard & Poor's, Amgen and Turner Broadcasting.

In addition to Preston, the staff of The Storage Group also will join GlassHouse, strengthening the company's presence with a Southern California base of operations from which to serve GlassHouse's growing list of West Coast clients.

"Our consultants' understanding of backup is one of the areas where GlassHouse and The Storage Group have the most synergy," said Preston. "This is the first time I've seen any organization with the momentum GlassHouse has achieved. I'm proud of the services that The Storage Group has provided since opening the doors almost four years ago, and to continue to provide expanded levels of service my company and I wanted to participate in GlassHouse's growth and excitement. With our shared vision of the future of the storage services market, our clients will benefit from access to a broader range of implementation and consulting services. "

About GlassHouse Technologies Inc

GlassHouse Technologies has an ongoing, aggressive campaign to recruit talented storage and backup practitioners, engagement managers and sales professionals. GlassHouse is a provider of 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 and backup operations, transforming storage into a strategic business advantage. GlassHouse clients include Biogen Idec Inc, Hartz Mountain Industries Inc, Pitney-Bowes Inc and The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. More information about GlassHouse is available at www.glasshouse.com/.