Software is the key
Advances in storage hardware are also now viewed as secondary to changes in management software. “Storage technology is being driven by software and by refining some of the architecture,” according to Gold. “Once you have an architecture in place, what makes a difference is the software.”
“Software is something that people should look at first,” says Smith. And there is no doubt that software is attracting a lot of attention, because the attention goes where the pain is.
The key element of storage software is the ability to define company-wide policies that will remain consistent even as storage needs grow. “The idea of policy management is to allow growth in the environment without needing to add headcount all the time,” says Smith. “If you’re managing after the event, it takes so many more people.”
Storage needs to be seen as an infrastructure layer. “More and more customers are putting in a storage layer,” says Bowden. “You can build a disaster recovery plan based around your storage layer rather than 50 or 60 verticals.”
Simple software improvements have also enhanced basic functions such as backup, allowing, for instance, files to be backed up on the fly or databases to be backed up in copy-only mode.
Software can also deal more intelligently with backup routines and other data management tasks. “If during the day there were just a handful of changes made, why do you need to zero the database?” says Christian.
Yet backup shouldn’t be over-emphasised. “Often people just look at the backup side of the equation, but from the business side restore is more important,” warns Smith. “Software is starting to provide business functions, rather than just technical management stuff,” adds Bowden, citing the example of chargeback functions built into some management platforms.
The general shift to GUI-based policy management has also simplified storage management. The GUI doesn’t rule absolutely, though. “Those people who come from a Unix background still prefer the command line,” says Smith.
Software improvements can still be made. “We’re starting to see the ability to understand information, but storage management software still has some way to go,” according to Bowden. “Software tools alone are not the panacea.”
The bottom line: plan for your software needs, but don’t over-estimate what software can do for you. “The storage software is a tool,” says Smith. “It still comes back to understanding the processes and the procedures and integrating that into the organisation.”
Outsourcing?
Storage is often viewed as a prime candidate for outsourcing: it’s a fairly basic application with good economies of scale. But many storage industry watchers are sceptical about the value of businesses outsourcing their storage, or even their inclination to do so.
“People are still very paranoid about outsourcing what they hold near to their heart: their data,” says Christian. “We haven’t seen a big takeup in storage. You can give them your network and your desktops, because that’s all replaceable. But not storage. Business is too competitive, and there’s too much paranoia.”
“Outsourcing storage is still a niche area, as most organisations are not interested in losing control of the crown jewels,” says Elisha.
According to Titterington, it hasn’t taken off in a big way. “It is being done, but not in isolation. There aren’t many people who are buying it as a standalone service. Some people are outsourcing backup, but not the frontline storage needs.”
That may change in the future. “As the speed of bandwidth goes up and prices goes down, it’s becoming more realistic,” says Doug Oates, general manager for Pihana Pacific, which offers outsourced storage as part of its managed hosting facilities. “Most customers are looking for a solution that gives them guaranteed service levels. They can start small and scale with demand.”
Oates cautions against outsourcing purely as a cost-cutting activity. “It’s not just about money—it’s about getting availability of data.” Companies with dispersed offices in a single city, for instance, may find centralised storage more effective in providing speedy access to all locations.
“There’s still some early concerns about privacy and security of information,” says Bowden. “There’s some early resistance to outsourcing. It’s a case of the market being ready for it. Through partnerships, that area will grow over time.”
At the high end, resistance is likely to remain strong. “Our clients are the guys that really have gigantic amounts of data and they have to have reliable, consistent access,” said SGI’s Morcos. “Most of our clients would require that data to be in their own environment.” Outsourcing is still on people’s roadmaps as an option. “It’s no different than the outsourcing decision in general,” concludes Johnson. “So long as you have a set policy and the ability to check the results of your outsourcing, it comes down to a commercial decision,” adds Collins.
