Legit Reviews

Letter From Alex Grossman,
Founder and CEO of Active Storage

(On news that Apple Xserve is only available for sale through January 31, 2011)

Today is personally an interesting and bittersweet day, and Iʼm sure a bit of shock to many of the clients that Active Storage serves.

I think back to May 14, 2002, the day the Apple Xserve was introduced, and I smile. What I remember most from that day was the excitement of our small, energetic team that brought that amazing product to market.

Eight years later, I read the announcement of its demise and thought, ʻWow, that was a good run.ʼ But change is never easy, even if it makes way for the next great thing.

After spending many years in this business, I have come to realize that like everything else including market-changing products such as the Apple Xserve RAID, all products have a lifespan. And fortunately, the same spirit that brought Xserve to life lives on in the market, and continues to help evolve it.

Such was the case with Active Storage and the ActiveRAID. When we decided to build the next generation RAID product for Apple and Media creators, we were fortunate to be able to leverage the accomplishments of the past. Two years after our October 2008 launch, I look back and know it was all worth it.

Looking forward, I can tell you that Active Storage is not a company the dwells on the past. We were aware that this day may come, and while we are not quite ready to make an official announcement, I can say in all candor, we have not been standing still. Active Storage has some exciting things in the works that will shape the broadcast, post-production and creative professional market for years to come. None of us can predict the future, but Active Storage has been planning and developing for it. Innerpool™ was a glimpse into the future, and its announcement showed that the status quo is just not good enough.

Our investment backing, led by Intel Capital, is committed to our growth, and the Active Storage team from engineers to support, sales, finance, manufacturing and marketing, are up to the challenges of tomorrow. We formed Active Storage with the commitment to deliver the best storage experience for our users and we continually strive to improve it. We are respectful of the needs of our clients, and in these changing times, know that we wonʼt let you down.

No one can match our commitment, innovative spirit and experienced team to deliver the best experience to our users. The things we all accept as givens, separate us from the pack:

Optimized performance and reliability – it just works

Performance in adverse conditions – Active Storage delivers even when things are not perfect such as your network, technical issues, configurations - so you still meet your deadlines

We are there 24/7/365 with support people who deeply understand what you are doing, have walked in your shoes and understand your workflow and not just your simple storage needs

If there are issues, we resolve them – quickly. The entire company gets involved; not just SEs, but engineers and designers too

We are not a company that builds general market Windows enterprise products with an afterthought to Mac and Media customers – we build innovative solutions for the business and creative industries. Thatʼs what we do – thatʼs ALL we do

We build real management tools and rich applications with complete functionality - not Web pages. Why? Because users manage multiple systems in a network, whether Xsan or StorNext, a real native application does it better. Thereʼs a reason there are over 200,000 apps for the iPhone!

In these uncertain and slightly bittersweet times, rest assured that Active Storage is here to provide the bold thinking, powerful storage solutions, and world-class support your business deserves. Products may change, but our belief in building and supporting the best products and treating customers with care and respect is something that will never go out of style. Thatʼs a promise no one in our industry can match.

Warmest Regards,
Alex Grossman, Founder and CEO of Active Storage
Alex Grossman
CEO
Active Storage, Inc.