EMC Tuesday augmented its storage resource management (SRM) software portfolio by buying privately held Astrum Software for an undisclosed sum.

With the acquisition, EMC will be able to provide mid-tier customers, who typically buy Clariion arrays, with a more comprehensive view of their storage resources and simplify the implementation and management of networked storage, said Barry Ader, director of open software marketing at EMC.

EMC will inherit Astrum's SRM products for multi-platform, mid-tier storage environments, as well as the company's 30 employees. The acquisition has been completed and is not subject to any approvals, Ader said.

Customers will start seeing Astrum's SRM products in EMC storage area network (SAN) products very quickly, said Ader. The software will complement the VisualSAN SAN management software on Clariion arrays, he said. While VisualSAN helps customers better manage storage area networks, Astrum's software will help to better manage storage resources, he said. Astrum's software will ship separately from VisualSAN.

Astrum recently released Astrum 1.5, which helps monitor and manage storage through a centralized, Web-based management console.

Astrum is EMC's ninth software company acquisition since 2000. "Mid-tier customers were looking to help themselves to manage storage resources better, manage utilization rates and get a better handle on managing storage resources. Astrum fit the bill perfectly," Ader said.

Astrum's software portfolio, designed for automated file management, file-level reporting and capacity utilization in small and medium-sized networked storage environments, will strengthen EMC's ability to address a full range of automated networked storage requirements, the statement said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.