Seven signs that it’s time to rethink your storage vendor

Charting an optimal path to hybrid environments introduces all kinds of new challenges for storage considerations. And if you’re not careful, the traditional, hardware-focused storage providers like Dell will box you into costly, complex models that hamstring your efforts. It’s a little like entering a 5K charity fun run without training. NetApp can’t fix the annoying injury you got in that run. But we can provide a fast, smooth, and comfortable transition to all things cloud.

Just because you’re familiar with your current vendor, that doesn’t mean they’re right for the cloud. After all, enabling secure, fast access to data in hybrid and multicloud environments is much more complicated than managing storage in existing data centers. In private, hybrid, and multicloud environments, getting data to the right places at the right time—while protecting it and keeping costs in check—takes specialized technology and expertise. Yet vendors like Dell still approach storage from a hardware-centric perspective, because that’s the business they’re in.

That’s why it’s so important to consider the following questions as you think about storage vendor options:

• Does your vendor automatically upgrade you to the best solutions?
• Have you been provided a simple, clear, and complete path to hybrid cloud?
• Do you have access to the security, performance, efficiency, scalability, and flexibility you need?
• Are you working with a company regarded as an innovation leader?
• Does your provider’s team include professionals who offer expertise across clouds—every cloud?
• Are you supported by service professionals with a deep, broad portfolio?
• Can you choose from flexible financial programs that accommodate a wide variety of deployment models?

Answering “nope” to any of these questions means your data center likely won’t be ready for what’s coming as you migrate to hybrid and multicloud solutions. (And that will hurt in more ways than when you sprained your ankle taking that fun-run selfie.…) Just consider: Gartner predicts that “more than 50% of data migration projects will exceed budget and timeline and/or harm the business, due to flawed strategy and execution.”

Would you run a 5K in cutoff jeans? Only if inefficiency and comfort simply don’t matter (serious chafing, anyone?). The right fabric matters—and in hybrid cloud environments, the right data fabric also matters. A data fabric is an architecture and set of data services that provide consistent capabilities across on-premises and cloud environments. NetApp can help you build a data fabric that makes sense for your organization’s specific needs so that you can gain a competitive edge. It all starts with asking the right questions, including “How would I describe the flexibility of my cloud strategy?”

We’ve created a buyer’s guide, “Time to rethink your storage vendor?”. It includes specialist insights that will give you an accurate view of how ready your data center is for going hybrid. It covers:

• Essential questions for hybrid storage success
• What a data fabric is and why it’s important
• How NetApp^® solutions can do things like compress your storage footprint by 50% and slash virtual machine (VM) expenditures by up to 90%

And much more.

Download the buyer’s guide now.