Invest in Storage Professional Services, Not More Hardware

Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00165133, Adam W. Couture, 27 February 2009

Storage assessment services are now commonly promoted by storage OEMs and independent software vendors (ISVs) as well as value-added resellers (VARs), system integrators and independent storage consultants. A typical $50,000 to $100,000 investment in a storage professional services engagement can free up wasted storage capacity and improve storage efficiency, avoiding millions of dollars in hardware acquisition expenses. Additionally, storage service provider tools, methodologies and managed services can make IT staffs more productive and better able to cope with head count restrictions during a down economy.

Key Findings

• Basedonend-userinquiry,Gartnerhasobservedthatmoststorageinfrastructureismanagedinefficiently.Byimprovingstorageutilization,ITdepartmentscandelayincrementalstorageacquisitions.

• Storageprofessionalservicesareavailablethroughstoragesystemvendors,ISVs,resellers,systemintegratorsandVARsaswellasindependentservicecompanies.

Recommendations

• Unlessyourstorageutilizationrateisabove70%,immediatelybeginplanninghowyoucanstaveoffhardwarepurchasesthroughbetterstoragemanagement.

• Honestlyassessyourinternalcapabilitiestodetermineifyourequireexternalassistancetoextendtheusefulcapacityofyourexistinginfrastructure.Forexample,basedonGartnerinquiry,manyITorganizationsareill-equippedtoaddressthenuancesofeDiscoveryandcompliance.

• Althoughcapacityreclamationserviceswillfreeupstoragespace,growthwilleventuallyrequirenewstoragepurchases.Makecertainyourstorageassessmentincludesaroadmapforcost-effectiveacquisitionstrategiesaswellasshort-termsavings.

• Ifyouareaskingtheserviceprovidertobenchmarksavingsfromstavingoffhardwareacquisitionsbecauseofrecoveredcapacity,makecertainthatGartnerhardwarebenchmarkreportsareusedasthebasisofthecalculations.

2ANALYSISYouthinkyouneedanewcar.Theodometeronyouragingsedanreads150,000miles,andyou’reexpectingtopayatleast$30,000toreplaceit.Butafriendtellsyouhehasamechanicwho,for$500,willmakeimprovementstoyourcarandteachyousomedrivingtechniquesguaranteedtowringanother50,000milesoutofyourvehicle.Wouldyouconsiderit?That’sjustthesortofvaluepropositionstorageprofessionalservicesprovidersbringtothetable.Inmanyinstances,theyholdoutthepromiseoffreeingupcapacityandextendingtheusefullifeofstoragearraysforthepriceofaprofessionalservicesengagement.

AprofessionalservicesorganizationcanbeacriticaladjuncttoyourITorganization,bringingfreshtools,methodologies,efficienciesandinsightintoyourinfrastructureandstaff.AssessmentsthatatypicalITdepartmentmayundertakeonceeveryfiveyearsaredailyeventsforstorageserviceproviders.What’smore,theyhaveinvestedheavilyintheassessmenttools,trainingandmethodologiesthatwouldbeuneconomicalforenterprisesthatwouldusethemonlyrarely.

MoststoragevendorsandISVscandeliveravarietyofprofessionalservices.Additionally,manylargerresellersandsystemintegrators,suchasForsytheSolutions,DatalinkandChampionComputer,havedevelopedconsultingandevenmanagementpractices,supplementingproductsalesandimplementationservices.Ahandfulofpure-playconsultancies,suchasGlassHouseTechnologiesandContoural,eschewproductsalesandcometomarketwithavendor-neutralapproachtoprofessionalservices.

Figure1showstheGartnerdecisionframeworkforassessingtheimpactofcostoptimizationprojectsrelatedtostorageassessments.Infrastructuremanagersshoulduseittoplanforconfiguration-relatedcost-savinginitiativesintheirorganizations.Foreachofthesixelementsofthedecisionframeworkshowninthefigure,weprovideourexpectationsoftheimpactofthestorageassessmentcostreductioninitiatives,includingthelow,mediumorhighbenefit.

©2009Gartner,Inc.and/oritsAffiliates.AllRightsReserved.Reproductionanddistributionofthispublicationinanyformwithoutpriorwrittenpermissionisforbidden.Theinformationcontainedhereinhasbeenobtainedfromsourcesbelievedtobereliable.Gartnerdisclaimsallwarrantiesastotheaccuracy,completenessoradequacyofsuchinformation.AlthoughGartner’sresearchmaydiscusslegalissuesrelatedtotheinformationtechnologybusiness,Gartnerdoesnotprovidelegaladviceorservicesanditsresearchshouldnotbeconstruedorusedassuch.Gartnershallhavenoliabilityforerrors,omissionsorinadequaciesintheinformationcontainedhereinorforinterpretationsthereof.Theopinionsexpressedhereinaresubjecttochangewithoutnotice.

Figure 1. Decision Framework for Storage Assessment Cost Optimization

Source:Gartner(March2009)

• Potential Benefit - How big is the cash saving if the action is implemented?

Benefits

<6 mo – depen-ding upon type

Some initiatives are likely to involve

some technical risk

Process change may involve

changes to working practices etc

• Time Requirement - Can you capture the savings in this fiscal year?

• Degree of Technical Risk - Is there a risk that the change will undermine the ability

of your systems to deliver?

• Degree of Organizational Risk - Is your organization capable of adapting to the

changes?

• Investment Requirement - Does the change require a large upfront investment

before savings can be captured? Is the organization willing to make an investment at all?

• Customer Impact - What impact will this have on customers?

None

Difficult to quantify the

potential savings although are

likely to be large

Low Medium High

Commonly $50-$100K

31.0 Data-Reducing Professional ServicesAlthoughstorageserviceprovidersofferdozensofprofessionalandmanagedserviceseach,forthepurposesofthisreport,Gartnerfocusesonthoseservicesdesignedtoimprovestorageinfrastructureefficiency,freeupusablecapacityandincreaseutilizationrates,thusstavingoffimmediateneedsforincrementalmajorhardwareacquisitions.Professionalandmanagedservicesthatfallintothiscategoryincludethefollowing:

• Backupassessments

• Unnecessarydataidentificationandelimination

• “Right-sized”storageallocation

• E-mailandfilesystemarchiving

• Litigationholdprocessimprovement

• Deduplicationassessmentsandimplementations

• Dataclassification

• Processefficiencyandautomation

• Managedservices

1.1 Backup AssessmentsProfessionalservicesorganizationsareusuallycalledintoperformbackupassessmentswhencustomersarestrugglingwithfailedbackupsand/orrestores,shrinkingbackupwindows,andagingbackupinfrastructure.Butinadditiontoresolvingtheseproblems,backupassessmentsfrequentlyidentifyunnecessarybackups,suchasbackinguparchiveddataormultiplebackupsofthesamedata.Duringastorageassessmentengagement,oneserviceproviderdiscoveredthatitsclientwasbackingupthesamedatabaseeighttimes.Anotherdiscovereda40-1ratioofreplicateddatatoproductiondata.Obviously,theclientreclaimedanenormousamountofwasteddiskspace.Moreover,eliminatingunnecessarybackupsnotonlyfreesupbackupmedia,butitcanalsoreducethecostofoff-sitetapevaultingwhileshrinkingbackupwindowrequirements.Asaconsequence,ITstaffsbecomemoreproductive.

1.2 Unnecessary Data Identification and EliminationUnnecessarydataisattheheartofstoragebloat.Forexample,e-mailsandattachmentsthatwillneverseethelightofdayagainandhavenoretentionrequirementsforcomplianceoreDiscoverycancomprise30%ormoreofmailservercapacity.Similarly,staledatabases,unneededimageandgraphicfiles,andevenunusedapplicationsarethe“bosombuddies”ofstoragehardwaresalespeople.Storageassessmentscanidentifydatathatservesnopurposeandcanbesafelyremovedfromthedatastore.Serviceproviderscanalsoteachemployeeshowtoidentifyandreducetheamountofunstructureddatatheypreserve.

1.3 Right-Sized Storage AllocationDatabaseadministratorsneedoneterabyteofstoragefortheirapplication.Toensureagainstrunningoutofspace,theyrequesttwoterabytesfromthestorageadministrator.Toensureagainstrunningoutofspace,thestorageadministratorallocatesfourterabytes.Thatmeansthreeterabytesofstoragehavebeenallocatedtoadatabasethatdoesn’trequireitandcan’tbeusedbyotherapplicationsthatreallydo.

Soundfamiliar?Unfortunately,it’salltoocommonapractice.Ciscowentsofarasprovidingprizestodatabaseandstorageadministratorswhoreturnedunusedallocatedstorage.Astorageprofessionalservicesengagementcandiscoverinstancesofstorageoverallocationandrecommendright-sizedstorageallocationforeachapplicationorvirtualizedserverinstance.Unfortunately,serviceproviderscan’tenforceproperstorageallocation.ThatresponsibilitywillremainwithinternalITdepartments.

Problemsassociatedwithoverallocationcanalsobeaddressedthroughthinprovisioning,whichallocatesstorageonajust-in-timebasis,effectivelyallowingITdepartmentstosubscribefarmorestoragethanisphysicallyonthearray.However,unlesscompaniesalreadyhavearraysaccommodatingthinprovisioning,itisnotsomethingaserviceprovidercouldaccomplishwithoutnewhardwareexpenditure.

1.4 E-Mail and File System Archiving Managed ServicesAfter90days,e-mailmessagesarerarelyeveraccessed.Justthesame,theychewupdiskcapacityonprimarystoragearraysasreadilyasproductiondata.Archivinge-mailsandtheirattachmentsmeansthattheycanberemovedfromthee-mailserver,freeingupspaceforcontemporarye-mailmessages.Moreover,becausethedatahasbeenarchived,itnolongerneedstobebackedup,thusfreeingupbackupmediacapacityandshrinkingbackupwindows.Granted,anon-sitee-mailarchivingimplementationmayrequireuserstopurchasealow-coststoragetierforarchiveddata.However,amanagede-mailarchivingservicecanfreeupcapacitywithoutrequiringinvestinganotherdimeinstorageinfrastructure.

1.5 Litigation Hold Process Development and

Improvement Whencompaniesimplementlitigationholds(litigationisincreasinginthiseconomy),theyoftensimplystoprotatingbackuptapesandretainallbackupsforthedurationofthelitigation,ifnotforever.Thisisexpensiveintermsofmediacosts,andextremelyexpensiveiftheyneedtosearchthroughtapes.Companiescansavesignificantmoneyiftheydevelopmore-refined,intelligentholdprocesses,savingonlyrelevantdata.Alsoimportantisaprocessforreleasingholds,whichcanfreeupsignificantspace.Whileprofessionalservicesprovidershavevaryingdegreesofexpertiseinlitigation-relatedprocessesandpractices,theyareoftenfarbetterinformedthanmanyinternalITdepartmentsinidentifyingwhichdataistrulycase-relatedandmustbepreservedandwhichcanbesafelyscrubbed.

41.6 Deduplication Assessments and ImplementationsInrecentyears,theterm“singleinstancestore”(SIS)hasbeenusedtodescribesomedatareductionapproaches.SISmeansthatonlyonecopyofafilewillberetained,eveniftherearedozens,orthousands,ofthesamefileinthedatastore.WhenusingSIS,onlyonecopyoftheactualduplicatefilewouldbestored;theotheroccurrenceswouldpointtothesinglecopy,therebyreducingcapacityrequirements.

DatadeduplicationtakesthedatareductionconceptofSISfurther.Datadeduplicationusesdataidentificationandcomparisonalgorithmstodramaticallyreducethespacerequirementsofindividualobjects.Itdoesthisbystoringonlyunique“chunks”ofdata,therebyeliminatingredundancy.AlthoughSISdetectsandeliminatesduplicatesonafilebasis,block-leveldeduplicationexaminesredundancyatasubfilelevel,comparingpreviouslystored data.

Whensomepeoplethinkoftheterm“compression,”theconceptofmakingasinglefileorbackupstreamsmallercomestomind.Whatmakesdeduplicationtransformationalisthatitisnotappliedtoasmallamountofdata;rather,itisoperatingatagloballevel,reducingdatasizeacrossamuch-broaderenvironment,andtheknowledgeofpreviousdatachunksisretainedandusedasnewdataisexaminedinthefuture.

Datadeduplicationhasprofoundimplicationsoncustomerstorageinfrastructureacquisitions.Vendorclaimsrangefromcapacitysavingsof20-to-1to400-to-1.Gartnerclientswithdeduplicationtechnologyinproductionreportdatareductionsrangingfrom18-to-1toalmost300-to-1forbackupdata.Asaconsequenceofthisfreedspace,customerscanpotentiallystaveoffsomestorageinfrastructureacquisitionsforyears.

Initially,serviceprovidersmaybeabletoprovidededuplicationservicesonaone-timebasis,withouttheexpenseofinvestingindeduplicationtechnologies,becausetheserviceproviderwilluseitsownorlicensedintellectualpropertyfortheservice.Inthefuture,customerswillhavetoinvestindeduplicationtechnologiestopreventduplicatefilesresurfacingindatastores.

1.7 Data Classification and Information Life Cycle

ManagementInformationlifecyclemanagement(ILM)isessentiallyanenhancedversionofhierarchicalstoragemanagement.Itattemptstoclassifyvariouscategoriesofdataaccordingtotheirimportanceandbusinessvalueandestablishpoliciestomigratethedatatodifferentstoragemediaaccordingly.Needlesstosay,companiespromotingILMtendtodefineitaroundtheirownhardware,softwareandservicecapabilities,whichgeneratesconsiderablecustomerconfusionaboutwhatILMisandisn’t.Moreover,ILMisn’tusuallyastand-alonestorageinitiativebutafoundationforcraftingstoragearchitecturesandsolutions.Despitethedifferences

inhowindividualcompaniesdefineILM,oneprofoundcommonalityexistsamongthem:ServicessuchasdataclassificationpolicydevelopmentandarchitecturetieringarekeytothesuccessofanyILMimplementation.

Datathatisproperlyclassifiedagainstapropertierofstoragehasthepotentialtoproduceenormousstoragesavings.OnemajorstorageOEMestimatesthatitscustomersnowhave60%ormoreoftheirdataontheirmostexpensivestoragetierandfurtherestimatesthathalfofthatdatacouldeffectivelybemovedtoalessexpensivetier.

Butwhatifyouhaveonlyonetierofstorage?Howcandataclassificationhelpthere,withoutmakingnewstorageinvestments?Aserviceprovidercanhelpdefinemultiplestoragetiersevenfromasinglearraywithidenticalharddrives.Forexample,differentapplicationscouldbetieredaccordingtobackupschedulesandretentionpolicies.Ofcourse,achievingmeaningfullong-termcostsavingsmayultimatelyrequireincrementalstorageinfrastructurepurchases.ButtheroadtoILMcanbeginwithexistinghardware.

1.8 Process Efficiency and AutomationWheninternalITdepartmentsaretaskedto“domorewithless,”CFOsaren’tjustlookingtocurtailhardwareandsoftwarespending.Frequently,IThiringrequisitionsgetfrozenoreliminated.Worse,areductioninforcewillrequiretoughdecisionsregardingwhichITstaffmembersareretainedandwhichareletgo.Storageprofessionalservicesorganizationshaveinvestedheavilyindevelopinghighlyefficientprocesses,methodologiesandtechnologiestomaketheiremployeesasefficientandproductiveaspossible,and,inturn,increasingprofitabilityperemployee.ThesecanrangefromsimplescriptstoInformationTechnologyInfrastructureLibrary-basedprocessesandmethodologiestoproprietaryprocessautomationsoftware.Duringaprofessionalservicesengagement,storageserviceprovidersnotonlyemploytheseprocessesandtoolsthemselves,buttheyalsotrainITstaffsinhowtousethemtobecomemoreefficientandproductive—inessence,doingmorewithless.

1.9 Managed ServicesManagedservicescanalsoalleviateITstaffingpressures.Traditionally,staffaugmentationservices,suchason-siteresidencies,havebeenthestalwartofmanagedservices.Butmoreandmoreoften,storageserviceprovidersaredeliveringmanagedservicesremotelyandatcostsfarbelowwhatanon-siteresidentwouldcost.Someofthesemanagedservicesincludee-mailarchiving,remotemanagedbackupandremotestorageadministration.Servicessuchasremotebackupandarchivingcanshiftinfrastructurerequirementsfromthecustomertotheserviceprovider,freeingupcapacityoreveneliminatingsomeinfrastructurealtogether.Additionally,manyCFOsprefertheongoingoperationalexpensesofaserviceprovidertoinvestingintheirowncapitalassetsthatmustbemanagedanddepreciated.

5

2.0 Other Cost-Reducing ServicesWhilethefocusofthisreportisonstorageprofessionalservicesassociatedwithextendingtheusefulcapacityofexistingstorageinfrastructurewithoutmakinginvestmentsinincrementalhardwareandsoftware,eventuallystoragegrowthwillexceedtheincrementalcapacityfreedupthroughthesesavings,andnewinvestmentswillberequired.Thegoodnewsisthatthesamestorageprofessionalservicesdeployedatshort-termcapacityreclamationcanalsodeliverastrategyforcost-effectivestoragegrowthwithsignificantlonger-termsavings.

Afterclassifyingdata,theycanarchitectmultipletiersofstoragesothatless-demandingapplicationsaren’tdevouringthemostexpensivestorageinfrastructure.Theycanarchitectmultipledisktiers,reconcilingexpensiveFibreChanneldisksagainstlow-costSerialAdvancedTechnologyAttachmentdrives.

AsshowninFigure2,thisnotonlyimpactstheinitialpurchasepriceofspinningmedia,butitcanalsohavealong-termbenefitbecauseofreducedpowerconsumptionrequirementsofdifferentdrives.

Figure 2. Energy Cost Savings by Drive Type

Source:EMC

3.0 Taking the Next StepNomatterwhichstorageprofessionalservicesyouchoosetoengage,chancesarethatthecostoftheengagementwillneedtobeweighedagainstquantifiedcostavoidance.Ifyouareaskingtheserviceprovidertobenchmarksavingsfromstavingoffhardwareacquisitionsbecauseofrecoveredcapacity,makecertainthatGartnerhardwarebenchmarksareusedasthebasisofthecalculations.

Servicesthatextendbeyondstoragecanalsopositivelyimpactcosts.GreenITassessmentsstrivetoreducecarbonfootprintsbutalsohaveacost-savingbenefitfromreducedpowerconsumption.Similarly,datacenterconsolidationprojectsgainefficiencieswhilereducingrealestate,personnelandpowercosts.Whiletheseprojectscanbeexponentiallymoreexpensivethanashort-termstorageassessment,thepayoffcanbeexponentiallyhigher.

Finally,astorageassessment,likeanyprofessionalservicesengagement,canbefraughtwithpitfallsiftheobjectivesaren’tproperlydefined,therequiredsavingsaren’tspecified,orthescopeoftheprojectisn’tbounded.

Power / Capacity

94% less energy

87% less energy

73% less energy

50% less energy

38% less energy

73 GB 15K FC

146 GB 15K FC

300 GB 10K FC

500 GB 7.2K FC

1 TB 7.2K SATA

73 GB Flash Drive

3790 kWh/yr per TB

Performance Capacity

Power/TB

787 kWh/yr per TB

1,434 kWh/yr per TB

3,048 kWh/yr per TB

6,096 kWh/yr per TB

393 kWh/yr per TB