Panel on Storage Optimization

I just participated in a panel on storage optimization for Pacific Crest - an interesting firm that focuses on technology research for their investors. I was one of the panel members alone with Stephen Foskett, an IT consultant that works with end users and Mark H., an IT manager for plastics manufacturing company with 3,000 employees and 40 locations. 

Both Stephen and I talk to a lot of IT professionals and it was good having Mark H. on the line for his direct input on his IT operations.

Here were some key takeaways:

1. Both Stephen and I are seeing many of the same things - IT budgets haven't been dramatically cut but spending has slowed down and some projects have been put on hold for now.  However, high priority projects are moving forward since business can't come to a halt. Mark verified this within his IT organization. In the last 30 days I've personally spoken to about two dozen IT pros - and that has been the universal position among all of them.

2. Primary storage and backup are seen as mandatory. In many cases IT professionals are taking a look at what they have on the floor and seeing how they can better utilize existing IT assets. 

3. End users are more open to moving away from the status quo and leveraging innovation if the economic value is compelling and quantifiable. For example, Mark H. actually is eliminating tape and instead using Data Domain for backup. This is becoming more of a common theme among the Data Domain customers that I speak with. There is an opportunity to make big changes in the data center based on economics - especially in 2009. This isn't just true in backup but across the board.

4. Stephen and I both agreed that what we are seeing is continued storage usage - which includes optimization of what we already have and potentially buying new capacity.  Mark pointed out that storage was core to their business and was not being cut or delayed. 

5. Another area that is core to IT operations is backup and that investments are being made in backup hardware - with data deduplication being key to data center optimization. 

Comments

[Shibin Zhang]

Tony,

Would you inform me if there is a similar affair? Even though I am not working in the storage indurstry, I still want to learn dedupe via self-study.

Thanks,

Shibin

[Tony Asaro]

I don't know of any formal training on dedupe but there is a ton of content out there. Data Domain has a bunch of reports and white papers. It would be good to know from what context you want to lear about dedupe - as an engineer, a user, etc.

Tony

[Shibin Zhang]

Tony,

I can't complete my study because I got something else to do. From what I learn so far, I think Dedupe has a promising future. I told people that hardware consolidation (less boxes, less wires)is one of the features of next generation IT. The great business performance of Data Domain some how proved what I said was right.

Thanks, Data Domain!

Shibin

P.S. Sorry for bothering you.