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Interface
Bocada takes the suspense out of data backup

	DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES Mark Silverman is CEO of Bocada, a Bellevue company specializing in software that monitors the performance of network-storage and backup systems.
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What he leads: Bellevue-based Bocada, which sells software to help companies track and report the performance of their network-storage and backup systems. The software sits on a company's server and looks for backup glitches across an entire network.

From the depths: In a Bellevue basement in 1999, Liam Scanlan and Cory Bear founded Bocada, coming up with the idea for such a system. Not knowing what to do next, they asked Silverman for advice. Silverman, who had worked at drugstore.com and was a partner at Venture Law Group, thought the idea was compelling, so he joined the team.

The pitch: Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on backing up critical information, which in some cases is required by law. But they never know if the backup has worked until they try to retrieve the stored information. Silverman said retrieval rates are astonishing low: About 30 to 40 percent of the time, the backup system fails.

The solution: A company's information-technology managers are able to track performance by viewing reports generated from Bocada's software. The report shows where mistakes are made along the way. It also can show where storage is being underused, allowing resources the company already has bought to be used more efficiently.

Timing is everything: Two of the company's more significant milestones occurred during disasters. The first was Feb. 28, 2001, when Bocada was raising its initial round of funding. That was the day of Seattle's Nisqually earthquake. At the time, investors were just about to sign off on $4 million for Bocada, and Silverman got on the phone. Knowing how shaky the funding environment was, he said, "I called every single one of them and said, 'You don't leave, you don't dive under the desk, until you sign,' " he said.

And then: The second big event was the company's official launch date: Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists hijacked planes to attack New York and Washington, D.C.

Reinforcement: Both of those events reinforced why a company would need Bocada software. Even in times of disaster, it asserted, a company needs to know that critical information can be restored.

Successes: The 50-employee company raised $11 million in venture capital in two rounds from Madrona Venture Group, Second Avenue Partners, Guide Ventures and Catamount Ventures. Since launching in 2002, it has signed 130 customers, including Agilent Technologies, Microsoft, Xerox, Amgen, SBC and Sprint.

New hire: John Wilkerson joined Bocada in January as executive vice president of global sales and services. He came most recently from Microsoft, where he led the company's consulting services' strategy and operations. He also has worked at EDS, the Baan Co., Oracle and others.

— Tricia Duryee

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company