DENVER – "More than ready" might have been Commvault's printed tagline at this week's Go event, but company executives showed a particular liking to the word "simple."  

This was highlighted by the launch this week of its Metallic software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform and a seeming need to convince the market that it's products are, in fact, easy to use.

“If I had to really boil it down for you, we believe that this is the time to think differently, and to bring data management together with storage management to build the next generation of solutions,” said Commvault's CEO Sanjay Mirchandani during his keynote address. 

Could this be a changing of the tides — a reformation of sorts — for a tactfully repositioned Commvault that favors simplicity and flexibility in alignment with the market's demand for interoperability as multi- and hybrid-cloud environments continue to gain momentum? 

Considering Metallic’s launch comes on the heels of Commvault’s deal to buy software-defined storage startup Hedvig for $225 million — a play made to unify storage and data management and remedy data fragmentation for businesses — it would seem as though Metallic is Commvault’s rebuttal to the perceived notion of complexity inherent in its product line. It's a way for them to break away from those “it's too difficult to use” claims. 

“There was a perception of complexity, and once you have that it’s sometimes hard to shake,” said Lance Shaw, Commvault’s director of solutions marketing.

While Gartner named Commvault a "leader" in its Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery Solutions report for the eighth consecutive time, Gartner also echoed this concern of complexity. “Despite recent improvements in user interface and design, Gartner clients continue to report challenges associated with product complexity and setup configuration,” the report said.

Shaw admits to the complexity, and the numerous references to "simple" by every exec here makes that known. “If you read those reports, every one of those vendors have pros and cons,” Shaw said. “You need to take those cons and make yourself better.” 

The acquisition of Headvig in tandem with the launch of Metallic suggests Commvault is pulling out a new, more inclusive roadmap to remain competitive amongst customers that can’t afford a six-digit data management service. 

It could also be Commvault’s response to heightened competition from SaaS-based backup providers like Clumio and Druva that offer backup services lower in both cost and complexity. The vendor also faces competition from Rubrik and Cohesity, whose platforms are popular in the mid-market range because of their lower cost and simplicity of deployment, operation, and maintenance.