Five critical questions to ask to ensure your company invests in a data storage solution that’s secure, scalable and cost-effective in the long run
Storage is a significant and generally mission-critical investment. In an increasingly financially constrained environment, getting storage procurement right takes proper planning and a long-term view of what the organisation’s needs will be in years to come.
Many companies fall for vendor ‘marketecture’ — they’re sold on the concept, but somewhere down the road they realise that a storage solution that looks good on paper might not fit their long-term goals. They may find they’re locked into short refresh cycles that don’t allow them to sweat their assets, they may find that their storage isn’t scalable enough to meet their needs, or they may discover that storage costs are far higher in the long run than they anticipated.
To get true value from storage, with assets that can be sweated, organisations must ask several key questions about the expected lifespan of the device, its performance, scalability and security:
What warranties are offered?
With the right partner, warranties could extend to seven years, and even beyond that for a further three to five years, as long as the storage remains fit for purpose.
How much storage is required?
Businesses need to have a holistic approach to their storage scoping and how they evaluate their requirements. It’s crucial to look at projected data growth, which has admittedly become challenging since data growth is no longer linear. However, it’s important to consider what the impact of AI or future mergers and acquisitions will be on data growth. Coupled to that is external legislation and internal governance, risk, and compliance, which may require you to retain data for longer in future.
Data retention has become something of a headache for CIOs and IT managers because they are no longer sure what they can or cannot safely delete. The result is that data growth will be exponential and unpredFable and organisations need to store that data securely and cost-effectively.
What about performance?
Performance is key, and it goes without saying that you need to look at the workloads that are going to be on the device now, and what your future requirements will be.
It’s important to consider the organisation’s strategies, and whether the storage device can handle future scenarios. Ask: “Can the storage device I am procuring handle those kinds of scenarios, or will I have to buy a separate individually scoped storage device if I am to meet the demands of the organisation as it changes?”
How secure is it?
When data is the lifeblood of the organisation, storing it on “cheap and cheerful” storage would be a significant business risk.
With cheap storage, don’t expect support, warranties, or reliable parts deliveries. Companies need devices with redundancy built in, such as dual power supplies, dual RAID controllers, and networking. They need enterprise-grade or enterprise-plus levels of security and immutability.
When you’re looking at a long-term data retention strategy where you’re trying to store your data on a device for 10 years, you need it to be in an immutable state because you don’t want to get to year five, get hit with a ransomware attack, and you lose the past five years of data.
You also need to look for other security features, like multi-factor authentication or Zero Trust architecture, to ensure that the device is as secure as it possibly can be for its intended purpose.
Is it scalable?
Without the ability to scale, a device will likely only be fit for purpose for a limited time.
It’s important to ask whether the device scales with ease, and what the scalability range is. Ask: “How much more disk can I add to this device to scale it over time?” If the answer is, “You can’t, because it comes pre-built”, expect to be buying another device or deleting data in a year’s time.
While a device might be cost-effective for your current requirements, you may double or triple your storage costs over time if you don’t ask the right questions at the outset.
In the long run, asking the right questions and procuring a secure, scalable solution is the most cost-effective way to meet the demands of your business as it changes and morphs.
CASA Software is an entity within iOCO and it is a digital transformation organisation of highly skilled technology professionals. The entity has over three decades experience in the South African and Sub-Saharan ICT industry.
CASA Software helps customers to transform and optimise ICT operations from mobile to mainframe, including hybrid and multi-cloud, to accelerate innovation while maximising customer value.
Written by: Byron Horn-Botha, Senior Sales Specialist at CASA Software
Originally featured here
