Published by: CNBC.com
End-Users Say Compellent's of Ease of Use, Scalability Extend the Impact of Storage Throughout the Data Center
IT administrators here today said they are turning to innovative technologies such as storage and server virtualization to help them keep pace with growing systems management needs, lower operational costs and reduce complexity. At the inaugural C-Drive Technology Summit conference hosted by Compellent, members of the global IT community outlined how applications of server and storage virtualization helped them deliver on strategic objectives while dramatically simplifying IT operations.
In his welcome remarks, Compellent CEO and President Phil Soran said, "Compellent's ability to collectively manage all the disks in the system as a single pool of storage greatly simplifies server virtualization implementations. Users often do not require additional staff to manage their virtualized environments, leading to a high rate of adoption of server virtualization technology among our customers."
Virtualized Enterprise Storage Streamlines Adoption of Server Virtualization
At the event, Roger Cox, research vice president, Technology and Service Provider Research, Gartner, explained in his keynote address how storage virtualization is a key technology enabler for end-users seeking to keep a tight lid on rampant data growth.
IT leaders from around the world related how combining server virtualization and virtualized storage systems allowed their organizations to significantly improve efficiencies. Speakers included representatives of the Associated Bank, a diversified bank with more than 300 locations across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota; the Federal Bureau of Investigation Computer Analysis and Response Team; gm2 Logistics, provider of logistics services for one of the largest paper merchants in the UK and Ireland; Moss & Associates, a construction company in the United States; and Norway's Post and Telecommunications Authority, which regulates mail and all wireless and Internet communications in the country.
Gartner's Cox commented on the growing integration of storage and server virtualization among midsize organizations.
"Emerging storage innovators are proving to be highly effective at lowering storage costs and providing server virtualization the opportunity to thrive in the data center," Cox said. "However, virtualization has proven to be difficult to implement in many mid-size enterprises and IT managers are frustrated when their storage platforms don't enable server and storage virtualization to flourish together. The promise of the virtual data center will remain unfulfilled for companies that don't properly plan and manage their underlying infrastructure."
In his remarks, Preston Peterson, assistant vice president for infrastructure design at Associated Bank, described how the IT department expanded by a factor of 10 times its storage capacity to 300 TB in a period of 300 days, without adding a single staff member. In addition, Peterson's team implemented server virtualization as part of an innovation initiative.
"The ease of upgrading and maintaining the Compellent SAN means IT has more time to focus on innovative projects like server virtualization that can benefit Associated Bank as a whole," said Peterson. "We're able to roll out virtual systems directly connected to the SAN for test and development applications without having to expand our team to do it. Faster answers for the business solutions staff who drive the bank's services and applications are an example of how IT is providing better service to our end users."
"Storage virtualization provided by Compellent was critical to enabling us to easily manage 3 to 4 years worth of emails, project estimates and other construction job-related documents," said Bill Snow, IT director of Moss & Associates. "Creating a fully virtualized environment with virtual servers connected to our virtualized storage allowed us to provide the performance and service our field teams require to plan a building project quickly and accurately, while further streamlining the administration on our end."
Compellent customers attending the C-Drive Technology Summit represented diverse segments spanning finance, legal, government, education, healthcare, technology and construction industries. Attendees of the one-day educational conference included financial service firms such as Munder Capital, service providers such as MaximumASP, higher-education institutions such as The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and large government agencies including Scott County, the fastest growing county in Minnesota.
About Compellent
Compellent delivers affordable, modular storage solutions exclusively through business partners that provide companies of all sizes enterprise storage capabilities without big system costs or complexities. For more information, visit www.compellent.com.