As cyber threats become more complex, effective data protection and recovery is more important than ever. Working from its long background in data management, Commvault has shifted its focus over time toward strengthening cyber resilience with a cloud-first approach to data protection, backup and recovery.

At this week’s Commvault Shift event in London, the company made several announcements about additions to its cloud-based offerings, including specific enhancements affecting AWS and Google Cloud environments. Building on our earlier assessment of Commvault’s vision and strategy, we will examine how these developments could help organizations protect their new and legacy workloads and ensure business continuity in the face of modern threats.

It Is A Hybrid, Multi-Cloud World

A decade ago, we at Moor Insights & Strategy correctly predicted that the future of IT would be hybrid—spread out across traditional on-prem, public cloud, private cloud, the edge and multiple SaaS offerings. People debated this 10 years ago, but they no longer do. These different modalities have one thing in common: they all have data that needs to be managed and protected. Commvault has invested in creating, acquiring and partnering to achieve these capabilities across the modern hybrid, multi-cloud data estate.

Appranix Becomes Cloud Rewind

One of Commvault’s critical offerings for cyber resilience is Cloud Rewind, built on technology gained in its acquisition of Appranix. This feature gives organizations enhanced, automated recovery capabilities, allowing them to quickly rebuild cloud applications after an attack. This is particularly valuable for addressing cyberattacks such as ransomware, where it’s vital to recover both data and the cloud apps that interact with that data—without resorting to manual processes that in some cases could take weeks or months. Commvault’s goal is to enable enterprises to get back up and running faster than ever after an outage or cyberattack. “We are taking resilience to the next level by marrying Commvault’s extensive risk, readiness and recovery capabilities with Appranix’s next-generation cloud-native rebuild capabilities,” said Sanjay Mirchandani, president and CEO of Commvault.

The automated process aims to minimize manual intervention, reduce recovery times and enable businesses to resume normal operations with fewer delays. Additionally, Commvault has integrated a cyber resilience dashboard into the platform, providing organizations with a comprehensive view of their data and system health. This tool helps businesses detect vulnerabilities before they escalate into major issues.

The practical benefit of Cloud Rewind is shorter recovery windows and less time spent troubleshooting corrupted systems. Organizations using Cloud Rewind should be able to quickly recover and restore their cloud applications and data, minimizing business interruptions.

Enhanced Support for AWS Customers

AWS is the top cloud service provider today. Given its widespread use in modern IT infrastructures, Commvault has focused on enhancing solutions for AWS users and offers direct support for AWS environments. The list of specific functions starts with Cloud Rewind, which improves protection of Amazon S3 data by allowing users to revert to the last clean state as described above. In a recent conversation with us, a Commvault product leader noted that the company has been protecting S3 workloads since 2009, so this is a way for it to build on that legacy.

Commvault has also introduced Air Gap Protect, offering immutable, isolated copies of data as a service, adding another layer of security for AWS customers. Additionally, Commvault’s Cleanroom Recovery product has been extended to AWS to allow organizations to test and recover data in a controlled environment. This automates the provisioning of recovery infrastructure, allowing businesses to restore production workloads in an isolated AWS environment following an attack.

New Protections For Google Workspace

Organizations rely on Google Workspace for day-to-day productivity, collaboration and document management, so protecting the data in this environment is crucial. Commvault has now expanded its offerings to provide comprehensive protection for Google Workspace, including Gmail, Google Drive and shared drives.

Commvault’s solution incorporates multilayered data protection, with built-in security measures such as privacy protocols and zero-trust access controls, to deliver strong protection for Google Workspace users. The solution offers end-to-end recovery capabilities using Google Cloud Storage for data backup and restoration; this should allow organizations to quickly recover data after a security incident.

From the business user’s perspective, this offering simplifies recovery processes within Google Workspace, making it easier to restore critical emails and files without complex procedures. For organizations with large collaborative environments, this stands to minimize disruptions and keep day-to-day operations running smoothly.

Pure Storage Partnership

Commvault’s partnership with Pure Storage adds an extra layer of security for enterprises using Pure’s solutions for storage. Together, the two companies have developed a joint solution that offers advanced data protection features that address both security and compliance needs, including requirements from cybersecurity regulations—especially the Digital Operational Resilience Act, commonly called DORA, in effect in the EU.

This joint solution combines storage encryption, compliance locks and immutability features, making data tampering or unauthorized access nearly impossible. It also integrates AI-driven anomaly detection and cyber deception technology, which identifies potential threats in real time and confuses attackers by presenting fake data targets.

For customers, this partnership provides stronger defenses against cyberattacks and data breaches. Additionally, meeting stringent regulatory requirements helps organizations stay compliant while maintaining robust data security.

Moor Insights & Strategy has covered Pure Storage closely over time, and we have noted the value Pure is adding to its software stack regarding the data protection it can offer to its customers. This partnership with Commvault takes those provisions and moves them up a notch, essentially providing an “easy button” for mutual customers.

Clumio Acquisition

Commvault’s recent acquisition of Clumio further enhances its capabilities in AWS environments. Clumio built its business providing cloud-native data protection, backup and recovery services for AWS, Microsoft 365 and VMware environments. This acquisition supports Commvault’s cloud-first strategy by simplifying backup operations and offering cost-effective, easy-to-manage solutions. Clumio’s security features, such as encryption and air-gapped backups, also strengthen Commvault’s cyber resilience capabilities.

Incorporating Clumio’s SaaS platform allows Commvault to enhance data protection and recovery for critical AWS workloads, enabling organizations to secure their data in real time without complex backup infrastructure. From a business standpoint, the acquisition also opens cross-selling opportunities. Beyond that, Commvault leaders tell us that they’re excited about the influx of high-level engineering talent from Clumio.

Analyst Perspective

Commvault’s shift to a cloud-first approach reflects the growing demand for stronger cybersecurity in the cloud as businesses move more critical workloads there. Securing these systems and ensuring quick recovery from cyber incidents has become a priority; Commvault addresses these needs with its growing portfolio of cloud-native recovery tools. The acquisitions of Appranix and Clumio and partnerships with companies such as Pure Storage further strengthen Commvault’s ability to offer solutions tailored for cloud-heavy businesses.

In a competitive cloud data protection market that includes Cohesity, Veeam and Rubrik, Commvault offers broad protection across different cloud platforms. These solutions are beneficial for businesses already relying on these platforms. To continue to compete effectively, Commvault’s ability to expand its offerings and maintain strong support for cloud environments will be essential.

Commvault’s new solutions will be available in the coming months, providing more options for businesses to secure their cloud systems and reduce disruptions. Commvault is also hosting a series of its Shift roadshows to share its viewpoint on cyber resilience as well as information about its new partnerships, services and platform innovations designed for a cloud-first future.