Three Reasons Why Now is NOT the Time to Reduce Your IT Budget
Why a new storage infrastructure sets up the modern company for success
On premises data centers. Public clouds. Private clouds. Multi-clouds. The way the world stores data changes fast, and it can be difficult for companies to keep up with the shifts in trends and technology. Should we move our data off premises? What is the most secure way to store our data? What role does software play in the storage ecosystem? However, one reality is certain: yesterday’s data storage solution is not right for how businesses use data today and how experts are projecting it will be used tomorrow. No longer is data operational overhead, data is now currency, and it’s now more critical than ever that businesses of every size have access to their data – by the end users who need it, when they need it. This means that the IT infrastructures of yesteryear will need to be modernized in order for businesses to remain successful in an economic climate that is increasingly competitive.
Current world events have made businesses reticent to spend capital on what they perceive as “nice to have” improvements. Indeed, it can be difficult to justify spending money when stock markets are volatile and executive management are driving their workforces to tighten the spending belt.
Now is not the time to put that IT upgrade plan aside. We’ve distilled the situation into three key reasons that it’s more important now than ever before to ensure your business is set up for success.
Sometimes it seems there are more questions than answers, and data management can seem complex and overwhelming, from both a cost and management standpoint. Read on to see if some of the common reasons companies use to avoid infrastructure upgrades resonate with you.
- Keeping legacy hardware infrastructure is likely costing you more money.
It’s there, and it works, right? We’re not going to fix it if it isn’t broken. That’s a slippery slope when it comes to IT infrastructure.
Since “The Cloud” first became part of our daily lexicon, storing data on premises has been considered old school and inefficient, and companies reduced their management costs by moving data off site. Many companies have leaned into setting up their local data centers to house only a portion of the business data they produce, while sending the bulk of it to the cloud. . And, as businesses realize they need to keep more data closer to them – for a multitude of reasons including security, speedy access, and
Those localized storage facilities, designed to house critical data, have now become outdated and incompatible with other technologies that enable business success. Just as your laptop computer or smart phone has been replaced over the years because the old hardware could no longer take advantage of increasingly complex software, faster networks, and evolving communications protocols, so should This is the same paradigm for data center storage. The way we USE data is different today and will continue to evolve, so businesses need infrastructure that can flex and evolve with it. Whereas storage solutions of the past were designed to be rigid and static, today’s best storage solutions are modular, easy to install and maintain, and most of all, easy to upgrade.
Think about your iPhone or Android smart phone, your computer, your car. Technology advances, and the hardware and software that underpins it must advance together in order to provide the full breadth of features. A phone from 2007 simply cannot run a modern software app. Storage hardware is the same. Updated hardware is built for the way data is used today, and it is built to be compatible with the software and other components that create a full data management solution.
Further, legacy hardware puts companies at risk of actually losing business-critical data. Aging hardware fails, and most hardware of old does not contain the redundancy or software layer that is available today to keep it safe and secure. The question becomes, what is the cost of losing data?
The cost of public cloud storage is deceiving
It seemed like a good idea at the time: Reduce overhead on premises, push maintenance to a cloud service provider, and focus on business. The cloud transformed the way enterprises and even small businesses operate. But now, as data continues to proliferate exponentially – due to IoT, video surveillance, AI, machine learning, and other data-heavy endeavors – businesses are starting to see the financial impact of a cloud-only solution. The cloud storage model is simple: it’s inexpensive to put data in, but not so inexpensive to get it out. This made sense when data was inactive and stored temporarily as a precaution. Now, however, data is currency. It needs to be readily accessible in order to use it for business intelligence. Data is used in near real time for everything from identifying shopping habits to ultra-security measures at hospitals, airports, and banks.
The balance of reducing on premises overhead and the cost of that luxury is now at the tipping point. Businesses need their data accessible at all times, by the end users who need to access it. The trend is toward a multi-cloud environment wherein the public cloud still plays a significant role, but business critical data is housed closer to where it can be analyzed and used to make business decisions. In addition, storing massive amounts of data far away in the cloud is not feasible when it needs to be analyzed quickly and efficiently. Even over 5G networks, terabytes of data do not travel quickly. Even in use cases that aren’t obviously time sensitive, such as autonomous vehicle operations, real-time data availability is crucial.
It is important that every business analyze the real cost of the cloud, and balance that cost against the value of having its most important asset (data) safe, secure, and available on premises.
Storage isn’t one size fits all
It is important that businesses understand how they need to use their data today, how they anticipate using it tomorrow, and what the right storage infrastructure is for their unique needs. Data can now be categorized into what needs to be used now versus what needs to be used later. It makes sense that a private cloud or on premises data center would house data that requires immediate analysis, while porting data with long-term value to the cloud for use later.
Additionally, considering storage efficiency and performance have to be part of the equation. Data storage, like any technology, provides choices for right size, right type storage depending on how data is used, how often, and by whom. Flash (solid state drives) technology stole the spotlight in the past several years because of its exception input-output speed, elimination of mechanical parts, and small size. However, flash is not as cost effective as hard disk drives (HDDs), and to flash it for the capacity needed to store many hundreds of terabytes of data is not logical. In addition, HDD technology has advanced significantly and, in some cases, can offer the same or similar performance as SSD, but at a fraction of the cost and with exceptional capacity.
The key to the storage challenge is to implement a mix of storage technology, across an entire workflow or storage ecosystem, in order to use the right storage at the right time.
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With a multitude of choices and options, implementing a storage ecosystem can be daunting. It’s crucial to choose a partner who can advise across options and provide your business with the right solution. North American Systems International is a full-service storage company. NASI has partnered with Seagate Technology to offer right size, right type storage to companies and enterprises of all sizes. Seagate’s enterprise data solutions are modular, cost-efficient, and reliable systems that deliver out-of-the-box, intuitive solutions that enable businesses to focus on what they do best, while having the peace of mind that their valuable data assets are available to the people who need them, when they need them.
Contact North American Systems today for a consultation. We’ll take the time to understand your storage needs and recommend the right solution for you.
The balance of reducing on premises overhead and the cost of that luxury is now at the tipping point. Businesses need their data accessible at all times, by the end users who need to access it. The trend is toward a multi-cloud environment wherein the public cloud still plays a significant role, but business critical data is housed closer to where it can be analyzed and used to make business decisions. In addition, storing massive amounts of data far away in the cloud is not feasible when it needs to be analyzed quickly and efficiently. Even over 5G networks, terabytes of data do not travel quickly. Even in use cases that aren’t obviously time sensitive, such as autonomous vehicle operations, real-time data availability is crucial.
It is important that every business analyze the real cost of the cloud, and balance that cost against the value of having its most important asset (data) safe, secure, and available on premises.
Storage isn’t one size fits all
It is important that businesses understand how they need to use their data today, how they anticipate using it tomorrow, and what the right storage infrastructure is for their unique needs. Data can now be categorized into what needs to be used now versus what needs to be used later. It makes sense that a private cloud or on premises data center would house data that requires immediate analysis, while porting data with long-term value to the cloud for use later.
Additionally, considering storage efficiency and performance have to be part of the equation. Data storage, like any technology, provides choices for right size, right type storage depending on how data is used, how often, and by whom. Flash (solid state drives) technology stole the spotlight in the past several years because of its exception input-output speed, elimination of mechanical parts, and small size. However, flash is not as cost effective as hard disk drives (HDDs), and to flash it for the capacity needed to store many hundreds of terabytes of data is not logical. In addition, HDD technology has advanced significantly and, in some cases, can offer the same or similar performance as SSD, but at a fraction of the cost and with exceptional capacity.
The key to the storage challenge is to implement a mix of storage technology, across an entire workflow or storage ecosystem, in order to use the right storage at the right time.
——————————————————————————————————-
With a multitude of choices and options, implementing a storage ecosystem can be daunting. It’s crucial to choose a partner who can advise across options and provide your business with the right solution. North American Systems International is a full-service storage company. NASI has partnered with Seagate Technology to offer right size, right type storage to companies and enterprises of all sizes. Seagate’s enterprise data solutions are modular, cost-efficient, and reliable systems that deliver out-of-the-box, intuitive solutions that enable businesses to focus on what they do best, while having the peace of mind that their valuable data assets are available to the people who need them, when they need them.
Contact North American Systems today for a consultation. We’ll take the time to understand your storage needs and recommend the right solution for you.
