Responding to the needs of customers grappling with the exponential growth of data, Microsoft is continuing to make progress toward its goal of delivering solutions that reduce the total cost of storage and make the technology more accessible to more customers.

Recent developments include new partner qualifications for the Microsoft Simple SAN (Storage Area Network) program, such as storage arrays from EMC and a complete out-of-the box SAN for small- and medium-size customers from HP. Also, IBM announced a new Windows-based archiving solution to help customers simplify compliance.

The announcements are among the latest developments in Microsoft’s Universal Distributed Storage strategy — a commitment to mainstreaming high-end storage technologies for customers. Microsoft is announcing these developments at the 2006 Storage Networking World conference, a gathering of IT managers, storage architects and infrastructure professionals taking place in Orlando between Oct. 31 – Nov. 3.

For an update on Microsoft’s latest efforts to take the pain out of storage management for customers, and to learn more about Microsoft’s activities at the conference, PressPass spoke with Gabriel Broner, general manager of Microsoft’s Windows Storage Division.