White PapersExecutive summary
• This study illustrates the sizable differences between the number of terabytes of storage managed at large organizations vs. small organizations – 18 terabytes vs. 6 terabytes, respectively.
• Despite the big difference in the amount of storage managed by large vs. small organizations, all organizations tend to be working with a comparable number of storage providers – approximately two providers.
• Storage influencers are looking for two primary characteristics in storage solutions: reliability and quality. Things such as data migration services are aspects of storage that are less important than these primary characteristics. Larger organizations in particular are also looking for scalability.
• The biggest challenge cited by organizations of all sizes is the high acquisition cost of networked storage. Larger companies not surprisingly found this issue more of a challenge than did their counterparts at smaller organizations.
• There is a general sense of “so-so” feelings of satisfaction toward storage vendors for respondents of this study. Approximately half said they were simply “satisfied” with their networked storage provider, with few being “completely satisfied” or “not satisfied.”
Networked Storage: Trends &Challenges for SMB, Midsizeand Enterprise IT ProfessionalsSponsored by:White PaperA ugust 2006Research conducted by:Untitled DocumentNetworked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 2 of 11ContentsOverview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Profile of respondents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Terabytes of storage managed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Number of storage vendors used. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Characteristics looked for in a storage solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Challenges of networked storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Satisfaction with current networked storage provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10About Pillar Data Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Untitled DocumentNetworked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 3 of 11Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB,Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsOverviewIn June 2006, Computerworld invited IT influencers to participate in a survey on networked storage. A pop-upappeared on Computerworld.com inviting visitors to take the survey. The goal of the survey was to betterunderstand the issues IT managers face related to managing networked storage. The survey was commis-sioned by Pillar Data Systems, but data was gathered and tabulated independently by ComputerworldResearch. The following report represents top-line results of that survey and is meant to serve as a briefbenchmarking tool for IT managers seeking information about how their peers are managing storage.Profile of respondentsThe survey was conducted over IT influencers from companies of varying sizes. In order to qualify to take the survey, respondents had to be involved in the storage purchase process at theirorganization. In general, respondents were very involved in all phases of the purchase process, as is shown inthe breakdown below:Determine the needs for storage products/services 68%Define requirements for storage products/services 63%Evaluate storage product/services brands/vendors 59%Create IT strategy around storage 50%Authorize storage purchases30%For the purpose of this paper, results will be shown broken out by small, midsize and large organizations toillustrate how company size affects certain aspects of storage management. Below is a breakdown of the company-size pools that will be presented:Overall base: 440 respondentsLarge organizations (1,000+ employees): 217 respondentsMidsized organizations (100-999 employees):91 respondentsSmall organizations (fewer than 100 employees): 132 respondentsUntitled DocumentExecutive summary" This study illustrates the sizable differences between the number of terabytes of storage managed atlarge organizations vs. small organizations 18 terabytes vs. 6 terabytes, respectively." Despite the big difference in the amount of storage managed by large vs. small organizations, all organi-zations tend to be working with a comparable number of storage providers approximately two providers." Storage influencers are looking for two primary characteristics in storage solutions: reliability and quality.Things such as data migration services are aspects of storage that are less important than these primarycharacteristics. Larger organizations in particular are also looking for scalability." The biggest challenge cited by organizations of all sizes is the high acquisition cost of networked storage.Larger companies not surprisingly found this issue more of a challenge than did their counterparts atsmaller organizations." There is a general sense of so-so feelings of satisfaction toward storage vendors for respondents ofthis study. Approximately half said they were simply satisfied with their networked storage provider, withfew being completely satisfied or not satisfied. Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 4 of 11Untitled DocumentTerabytes of storage managedNot surprisingly, there are vast differences in the size of storage under management by smaller organizationsvs. larger organizations. On average a small company has just under 6 terabytes of storage under managementversus just under 8 terabytes for a midsize organization and 18 terabytes for a large organization.How much storage does your organization have under management?Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 5 of 1101 0 %2 0 %3 0 %4 0 %5 0 %6 0 %7 0 %8 0 %Untitled DocumentNumber of storage vendors usedWhile the number of terabytes of storage managed may differ greatly by company size, the number of vendorsa company uses isn t that different for small organizations versus large organizations. Regardless of companysize, the typical company has roughly two storage vendors that they work with.How many storage vendors does your organization use?Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 6 of 1101 0 %2 0 %3 0 %4 0 %5 0 %Untitled DocumentCharacteristics looked for in a storage solutionAcross companies of all sizes, the two most sought-after characteristics for a storage solution are reliabilityand quality. In fact, small, midsize and large organizations were very consistent in how they rated all of thecharacteristics they look for. One of the only characteristics for which there was a marked difference was scalability, which was much more important to large organizations than small organizations. What characteristics do you look for in a storage solution?(Percentage answering 4 or 5, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being unimportant and 5 being very important)Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 7 of 1102 0 %4 0 %6 0 %8 0 %1 0 0 %Untitled DocumentChallenges of networked storageOrganizations of all sizes pointed to high acquisition costs as the most challenging issue they face related tonetworked storage. It s interesting that a lot of the top challenges were related to cost acquisition costs, costof high availability, maintenance costs and extra software costs. The amount organizations need to invest innetworked storage is clearly the major pain point right now for managers. This is especially interesting,because respondents told us on the previous page that low cost was not a hugely important characteristicwhen looking at storage providers. It seems they first want to make sure the provider is reliable and high quali-ty, and then need to address the challenge of cost.In terms of differences across company size, we see that in general, larger company respondents found eachissue more challenging than their smaller counterparts (as shown by the higher percentage citing each challengethan did small companies). A good example of this is the challenge of the high cost of high availability, for whicha full 61% of large company respondents felt it was challenging or very challenging, with only 47% of small com-panies expressing this. This emphasizes just how important availability is in a larger organization.What is the most challenging issue your organization faces related to networked storage?(Percentage answering 4 or 5, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being unchallenging and 5 being very challenging)Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 8 of 1101 0 % 2 0 % 3 0 % 4 0 % 5 0 % 6 0 % 7 0 % 8 0 %Untitled DocumentSatisfaction with current networked storage providerAcross the board we see that roughly half of organizations are satisfied with their storage provider. Few are completely satisfied and even fewer are not satisfied. Responses indicate that storage providers are doingfine but not necessarily exceeding their expectations, nor completely botching the job. This is the case acrossorganizations of all sizes the only small difference we see is that it seems a slightly larger percentage ofsmall organizations are not satisfied with their provider (10%) than large organizations (3%).How satisfied is your organization with your current networked storage provider?Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 9 of 1101 0 %2 0 %3 0 %4 0 %5 0 %6 0 %Untitled DocumentConclusionOrganizations of all sizes are clearly facing many challenges related to selecting and managing networkedstorage solutions. The sheer volume of storage under management is increasing the typical large organiza-tion is now averaging around 18 terabytes, according to this study.To effectively deal with management of this volume of data, organizations of all sizes are typically turning totwo networked storage providers. However, in general the providers they re using are delivering what respon-dents characterized as satisfactory results and in very few cases are exceptional. In order to find a provider that will deliver results that are more than just satisfactory, storage managers arelooking for solutions that are reliable and of a high quality above all else. The perceived barrier however is thehigh acquisition costs of such networked storage solutions. The vendor who will most effectively meet the needs of these storage managers is one who can deliver reliabili-ty and quality at a reasonable acquisition cost, and also be able to tailor its solutions to the specific needs of theorganization. Storage managers should seek solution providers with experience delivering effective solutions toorganizations with comparable numbers of employees supported and terabytes under management.Networked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 10 of 11Untitled DocumentAbout Pillar Data SystemsPillar was launched with a simple, powerful idea: Build a sensible alternative to today s typical storage systemby delivering value that others had promised but never produced. Pillar storage solutions help enterprises simplify storage management, consolidate storage infrastructure, and save time and money.Contact Pillar Data SystemsCorporate HeadquartersPillar Data Systems2840 Junction AveSan Jose, CA 95134Tel: 877.252.3706info@pillardata.comUnited Kingdom Office 148 Leadenhall Street London, EC3V 4QTTel: +44 (0)20 7868 1850infouk@pillardata.comGermany OfficeLandsberger Str. 30280687 M nchenTel. +49 (089) 90 405486infode@pillardata.comFrance Office32/36 rue de Bellevue92100 Boulogne BillancourtTel : +33 820 290020infofr@pillardata.comVisit Us Onlinewww.pillardata.comNetworked Storage: Trends & Challenges for SMB, Midsize and Enterprise IT ProfessionalsResearch conducted by:Sponsored by:August 2006 | Page 11 of 11
