ADIC Ships 30,000th Tape Library; Reaffirms Position as Leading Drive-Independent Supplier of Automated Tape Storage Products

Business Wire, August 26, 1998

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1998--ADIC (NASDAQ:ADIC), the leading drive-independent provider of automated tape libraries, today announced the shipment of its 30,000th tape library, giving the company the largest installed base of any drive-independent tape library supplier.

The 30,000 tape libraries include a wide range of products, starting with 4mm autoloaders that store 60 GB of data and retail for under $3500 and ranging all the way up to multiple-drive DLT(tm) libraries capable of holding 55TBs and costing several hundred thousand dollars.

"ADIC has been committed to the idea of a broad product line and drive independence since the beginning, and the strategy has worked well both for ADIC and for our customers," explained Chuck Stonecipher, ADIC president and chief operating officer. "Before 1997, a large majority of our tape libraries were smaller capacity 4mm and 8mm units. Since then, larger capacity libraries and higher speed DLT technology have become critical for server backup, and our product mix reflects that trend. Our product offering has grown to meet the data protection needs of a diverse customer base, and it continues to grow. In addition to offering a wide range of DLT-based products, we support emerging standards such as the Sony AIT technology and next year plan to integrate drives using the HP/IBM/Seagate LTO format as well."

"Our 30,000th ADIC library shipment comes at an important time in the Company's history," continued Stonecipher. "We are just now adding to ADIC the resources of the EMASS division of Raytheon, a move which will further increase our installed base and which will expand the range of products to include very large mixed media data libraries with capacities of more than 50,000 cartridges."

Besides being the largest drive-independent tape library company, ADIC also holds the distinction of being the premier supplier of tape libraries through the two-tier distribution channel that carries a high percentage of Windows NT(tm) servers and software. "The ADIC brand is credited," according to Bill Britts, ADIC executive vice-president of sales and marketing, "with more than half of all the automated DLT storage product shipments -- including all autoloaders and midrange libraries -- sold through the commercial distribution channel this year. Our ongoing strong relationship with the indirect channel, including distributors such as Tech Data and Ingram Micro, continues to be one of our competitive advantages."

Rapid Growth in Data and in Libraries -- Broad Industry Support

One of the pioneers in the development of automated tape libraries for PC LAN systems, ADIC's growth has paralleled the accelerating growth of data in computer networks. The company began shipping tape libraries in volume in 1991, reached the 15,000 halfway point sometime in mid-1996, and has seen accelerated growth since. Unit shipments for the first half of 1998 are nearly 50% above the equivalent 1997 period. Revenues for the company have followed a similar trend, growing from about $20 million in FY1994 to nearly $95 million in 1997.

As a drive-independent company, ADIC has offered tape libraries which integrate drives manufactured by Archive, Conner, Exabyte, HP, Quantum, Sony, Tecmar, and Wangdat in formats that include DAT (DDS-1, DDS-2, DDS-3), 8mm (8505, 8505XL, Eliant), AIT (SDX-300), QIC9000, and DLT (DLT2000, DLT2000XT, DLT4000 and DLT7000). The products have been supported by more than 60 backup and archival software products, including those from Computer Associates, Legato, Seagate Software, and Veritas.

Commenting on the ADIC strategy of drive independence, Bob Abraham, Vice President at Freeman Associates noted that "because the number of different tape technologies is growing rapidly, offering a broad product line independent of tape technology is a sound approach. Such a strategy allows ADIC to provide solutions for a wide variety of end-user needs and to respond quickly to technology changes."

"Quantum recognizes the important contribution that ADIC has made to delivering automated DLTtape(tm) storage solutions to the Windows NT market through the indirect reseller channel," commented Brodie Keast, Quantum Corporation's DLTtape Division Vice President and General Manager. "And now, with the acquisition of the EMASS products, the breadth of their DLT library line is one of the largest in the industry."

"CA's support of ADIC's automated tape libraries with its storage and management products has developed into a successful relationship for both companies," said Jeff Finkle, Vice President of Worldwide Channel Marketing at CA. "CA congratulates ADIC on reaching this impressive milestone. As both a partner and a supplier to ADIC, we look forward to continuing to work with them to bring automated data protection solutions to large and small customer sites deploying a wide variety of platforms and operating systems."

"We see a continuing need to supply storage solutions for different data zones across the enterprise," noted Nora M. Denzel, Senior Vice President of Legato Systems, Inc. "ADIC's broad product line and its drive-independent approach to library development, offer our mutual end users a variety of solutions that work for a wide range of different data storage needs."