Over the last few weeks I have heard from a number of companies that they are cutting back on staff. They want to know if Zerowait can assist them with their storage network management on an ongoing basis. And the answer depends on getting an understanding of their business plan, requirements and expectations.
A company that is tightening its belt has a much different set of storage requirements than does a company that is experiencing rapid expansion. If a company is tightening its belt it may be very interested in how Zerowait can help them extend the life cycle of their current network and storage environment. Our experience has shown that it is usually substantially cheaper to maintain legacy equipment than it is to replace it with newer equipment. However, often there is a bit of tinkering and tweaking required to maximize the current infrastructure. Extending the lifespan of equipment can save companies hundreds of thousands of dollars, and is a great way to free up budget dollars for a company that is still tightening its belt. Expanding companies also benefit from reviewing the abilities of their legacy equipment though. By maintaining older equipment budgets dollars can be spent on other revenue generating projects.
If your requirements are forcing your organization to look at new equipment for secondary or tertiary storage, why not look at re purposing your older storage equipment? It is still high availability and if maintained correctly will provide many more years of service. What are your requirements and where does your performance requirements bisect your cost of equipment curve? Legacy equipment has no acquisition cost, and only has a support cost. Low cost and adequate performance are often all that is required for secondary storage applications.
Finally, what are your organization’s expectations of the performance requirements. Secondary and tertiary storage may not need a two hour support and service contract. Next Business Day Parts requirements may be good enough to meet the requirements and control your costs.
In sourcing Zerowait into your planning allows your organization to look at the costs of maintaining legacy equipment against the cost of purchasing new equipment. The latest equipment might have more features, but are these benefits tangible and do they outweigh the costs? TCO studies by new equipment vendors rarely show the true savings of maintaining equipment for a year or two extra before replacing it.
Why not In Source Zerowait into your network storage decision process?