| Most companies have massive amounts of unused | | | | all the issues that will affect the storage strategy, |
| and underutilized storage scattered across their | | | | including customer expectations, compliance, and |
| enterprise. A recent study of 200 organizations found | | | | competition. |
| that 15% of all storage was allocated but never | | | | 2. Assess current storage. By identifying business |
| used; 10% was left behind when the server was | | | | requirements and SLAs, you can quantify the |
| moved, and 40% had not been referenced by an | | | | short-term, mid-term, and long-term ROI for |
| operating system for six months. | | | | redeploying storage assets. |
| That's a lot of waste - of resources, of IT time, and | | | | 3. Tier, consolidate, and simplify. A centralized |
| of money. | | | | strategy will make it easier to control and manage |
| "Increasingly, it is clear that IT can no longer afford | | | | storage centrally, using standardized IT platforms, |
| to host discrete applications across discrete hardware | | | | tools, and interfaces, allowing you to find pockets of |
| for discrete organizations," says IDC analyst John | | | | unused data. Currently, 40% of companies have just |
| Humphreys in a recent white paper. | | | | two tiers for their storage, meaning they typically |
| Enter storage optimization. This is a process of | | | | have low-value data on expensive media. |
| visualizing, accessing, and relocating the valuable | | | | 4. Define service levels. Not all data is equally valuable |
| wasted resource of your untapped storage. This | | | | or needs the same level of protection - and the |
| allows the enterprise to look at its data as a single | | | | value of data changes over time. Many companies |
| entity, rather than scattered silos. The benefits are | | | | have outdated reports still classified as important |
| wide-ranging: | | | | information that is kept on expensive media. |
| * Data is no longer wasted. | | | | 5. Monitor, manage, provision. Automatic monitoring |
| * You can always visualize the amount of data you | | | | and reporting capabilities makes data trackable across |
| have. | | | | applications, platforms, departments, and vendors. |
| * Data management is simplified and automated. | | | | You can have more efficient operations through |
| * You can align your storage plan with business | | | | better management and accurate charge-backs on a |
| needs, processes, and technology. | | | | pay-per-use basis. |
| * The potential for security breaches, compliance | | | | The information stored on computer systems is |
| issues, and backup problems is reduced. | | | | doubling every year, and the cost of managing |
| * You can defer unnecessary capital expenses. | | | | storage is now nearly as much as the cost to buy it. |
| IT is freed from fighting fires and can move from a | | | | With storage utilization rates running at only 40 to |
| reactive to a proactive stance, spending time on | | | | 60%, half of every dollar spent on storage may be |
| more strategic issues. | | | | wasted. |
| More effective use of storage - capturing and using | | | | To see the payoff of storage consolidation in |
| your untapped data brings performance benefits, as | | | | practice, let's look at KnowledgeBase Marketing(r), a |
| well, since the process not only releases more | | | | subsidiary of one of the world's most comprehensive |
| storage but helps you put a structure into place for | | | | communication services organizations with 2,000 |
| using your storage in the most effective way | | | | offices in 106 countries. They implemented a |
| possible. | | | | "blended" storage model that consolidated storage |
| Humphreys calls the current optimization landscape | | | | for its open systems platforms across two tiers. |
| "Virtualization 2.0," as companies leverage | | | | Results: 40% reduction in storage TCO, 50% |
| consolidation for ever-more-strategic purposes, | | | | reduction in storage administration time, 3X |
| including lowering operational expenses, improving | | | | improvement in I/O throughput, and 86% reduction in |
| service levels, and responding faster and better to | | | | transaction costs. |
| changing business needs. | | | | Companies in a diverse array of fields - energy, |
| It's important to keep in mind storage optimization is | | | | media, and education, for starters - have reported |
| not one-size-fits-all and must be carefully designed to | | | | similarly impressive benefits from their own storage |
| the specific needs of your organization's priorities | | | | consolidation efforts. |
| regarding flexibility, manageability, and other important | | | | To fully benefit from storage optimization, you must |
| considerations. | | | | approach this as a methodical exercise. The right |
| The five-step approach: | | | | approach to optimization can result in a system that |
| 1. Define business requirements. Talk with all | | | | provides the correct degree of flexibility, availability, |
| stakeholders and develop a strong understanding of | | | | and security for your specific needs. |