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Small businesses need ‘big’ storage too

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 03 Apr 2020
Ricky Pereira
Ricky Pereira

The notion that if an organisation is small, its data storage, backup and protection must be small too, is false. Most small entities will say they have the same needs as large enterprises, but are required to meet business expectations with a significantly smaller IT budget and number of staff.

“Businesses of every size and type have emails, documents, spreadsheets, databases, images, video and suchlike, that are crucial to keeping the organisation up and running,” says Ricky Pereira, Dell EMC brand manager at Pinnacle“All of these things, as well as the applications that support them, take up a considerable amount of drive space. Small businesses require solutions that can manage their storage needs, and grow with the business.”

Pereira says each business has unique needs, which is why a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution doesn’t work. “The idea that it will, is a dangerous one, which will ultimately result in over or under spending, running out of capacity, and issues with functionality. The only appropriate storage solution is one that is tailored to meet your organisation’s technological needs and works well with the existing IT environment.”

Smaller businesses and start-ups don’t have the budgets that their enterprise counterparts do, and have to do more, with less. “First and foremost, any solution needs to fit their budget and be economical. However, while this certainly doesn’t mean they need to compromise on quality, value for money is definitely a factor at play.” 

Over and above value for money, he says any IT investments need to prove their worth in the time they save by eliminating routine tasks, improving performance and boosting operational efficiency.

“Most importantly, they need to integrate with existing solutions and help streamline the overall business functions. Any solution has to be fully compatible with all current systems and hardware the business already has in place, and must able to run on its existing physical and service infrastructure. Remember, today’s workforces are often not office based, which means mobile and cloud apps need to be supported too.”

According to Pereira, Dell’s entry-level PowerVault ME4 Series storage array family offers small businesses a storage portfolio that’s straightforward and easy to understand.

“SME environments are incredibly competitive and have to function regardless of extreme resource constraints, without sacrificing performance. These smaller businesses simply can’t afford to make a mistake when it comes to IT infrastructure investments, data storage in particular. They can’t afford to invest in the wrong solution, as they’ll be stuck with it for a while.”

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