"The storage capacity becomes a problem when the type of data and the business value of data are not understood. Non-relevant data is then stored which puts pressure on only minimal amount of capacity," says Jan Sipsma, National Pre-Sales Architect at Infinidat.
On this note, Infinidat in partnership with ITWeb, is conducting an online Storage survey during June and July to gain valuable insight into the maturity of storage strategies within South African organisations.
He adds, "The main objective of this Storage survey is to understand the storage landscape as well as to understand the data growth in South Africa."
In Sipsma's opinion, very few storage projects fail initially.
"The problems occur when the growth of data was not planned and properly understood when the project was embarked on."
When asked if, in terms of South African organisations, there are trends being set with regards to their storage requirements, Sipsma says that trends in the storage environment are sometimes difficult to track.
"As technologies change and are enhanced, companies look at what is available and if the technology will make a difference to their business. Currently hybrid storage systems as well as software-defined storage systems are in high demand," Sipsma adds.
He also points out that all flash arrays are being tested and implemented for specific workloads.
When it comes to whether South African organisations prefer to have in-house storage solutions or to outsource, Sipsma believes that this issue is still being strongly debated.
"Both have benefits as well negative points for any company. In-house storage gives benefit of more control whereas outsourced storage does have an element of more flexibility to it. What the right answer for any company would require the IT organisation to understand the business requirements better and for business to understand technological capabilities more will decide on the best strategy to serve business best. The age-old comment - IT needs to come closer to business - will ultimately decide which strategy is the best," Sipsma continues.
He also advises that strategies should not be set in concrete, as business needs change all the time.
"More and more companies are adopting a policy or strategy to make the technology environment a profit centre and not just a cost centre. This means that departments are billed for the storage capacity that is used," Sipsma explains.
He believes that this helps to measure storage spend more accurately and to ensure that only business critical data is stored. Sipsma also says that data and the importance of our data has forever changed.
"What are the most important features that are considered when a decision is made on what new cellphone to purchase? Most features are taken for granted. However, you will consider how much storage capacity it has so that you know how many pictures you can save before you have to copy it off. The same principle applies for any organisation," Sipsma elaborates, "the data that is stored is critical."
According to Sipsma, storing data on systems that are reliable and can serve the data at the rate at which it is required, but still is cost-effective, has become a non-negotiable for any business.
"If your cellphone's capacity is important to you, so should the systems that store one of your company's most valuable assets, data, be. Make the next storage decision with these factors in mind," he concludes.
Click here to complete the survey and you can win an Apple iWatch.
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