If you’re a newcomer to the arena of Storage area networks and the time has come to dip your toe into the murky waters of acquiring a new SAN there are many challenges waiting out there before finally putting your hands on a technology which can radically transform the data storage and management policies of your whole organization. Some of the choices facing prospective SAN purchasers can mean the difference between a very expensive anchorholding back the organizations data strategy - or a system which opens up new areas of opportunity for the business in data management functions. In this article I hope to point out some effective strategies which can be useful when formulating a SAN purchasing process and aid in making the road smoother on the journey towards purchasing the ideal system to meet your organizations goals.
The starting point of a SAN purchasing strategy is to determine the needs, both present and future, of the organizations data management & storage strategy. By holding assessment meetings with those areas of the business which will make use of the SAN a picture can be built up of the level of storage requirements for the next 3 – 5 years.Then systems which will either not meet this criteria, or are of too high a specification can be eliminated at first examination without additional,in-depth research. Also at thisinitial step in the process the prime question is - what role is the SAN actually required to fulfill? If obtaining a straight data storage solution is your primary reason for purchasethen the process is a comparative examination of performance versus cost. However if the SAN is intended to form the heart of a new working practice for your organization - for example the core of a new cloud-based computing solution, or as a backbone for server virtualization then the process can become much more in depth as you drill down to the systems with the specific functionality you require.
Having determined the driving goals and having a basic project specification then the technology evaluation process can begin. There are a plethora of free educational seminars available from SAN vendors and resellers which will showcase different systems and provide free question and answer sessions with industry experts. Taking advantage of these events allowsthe building up of a portfolio of system knowledge for later comparisonand can give a much broader view of the SAN marketplace. Unleashing the office techies to attend these type of events and then letting them present their findings will yield a surprising return when it comes to seeing past the sales banter and making sure any prospective system is fit for purpose when it is time to make a final purchase decision.In addition many existing organizations who are SAN users are willing to open their doors to prospective purchasers of the systems they use through reference site agreements with manufacturers and resellers. A good investment of time is to visit these sites and talk directly with the people who have prior experience of the products, preferably away from any sales representatives. This can illuminate any pitfalls which may be awaiting you post purchase and show up any gaps in the after sales services being offered .
Making sure your prospective SAN supplier has the resources to fully support the product throughout the lifecycle of the SAN is another important component of the purchasing strategy. Storage Area Networks are a 24/7 business component, therefore the after sales services offered by a potential supplier must stand up to intense scrutiny to give an appropriate level of peace of mind. A minimal level of after sales support must include comprehensive hardware replacement strategies and round the clock availability of technical support. In addition remote access support services and preemptive remote fault monitoring are becoming a standard component of many systems support portfolios and add greatly to the desirability of a product. Whenthe purchase is about to be made a full due diligence process of the successful supplier is also advised as a proviso to the sale. A supplier in financial difficulties or under legal duress is unlikely to provide the service levels required for this type of product and could fail to honor support contracts. The actual in-house administration of the SAN once acquired is also an important factor for consideration. If yours is an environment which justifies the employment of a dedicated and qualified SAN administrator then this is a moot point. However if SAN administration is to become part of the job function of an existing member of staff then a full assessment of the skills and training required to manage the technology shouldalso form a part of the overall purchasing process.
To summarize; the main objective when purchasing a SAN is to ensure that it meets the needs of your organization at the point of purchase and will continue to do so throughout its lifecycle as a useful component of your business. In order to achieve this successfully it is just as important to know the driving goals and processes of your organization as it is the technical specification of the actual SAN. A good device to aid with this is the decision matrix. Constructing a chart which scores each potential SAN against the purchasing criteria for the product will clearly provide data from which to formulate a final purchase decision.
I hope thepoints I have raisedhere will help contribute towards some successful SAN purchasing processes and offer effectiveguidance through what can be a very intensive and time consuming task.All of these strategies are relevant whatever the specification of SAN being considered - as the financial investment in purchasing a SAN is invariably large and the ramifications of an inappropriate purchasing decision are daunting regardless of the size of the organization.