IT managers face roadblocks every day. Many of these are due to ever-changing industry. From making sure you have enough storage capacity, to managing IT budgets — there is always something. It’s enough to keep you so busy that even if you just blink, you might miss the next best thing. And before long, that new shiny thing becomes obsolete.
The Zadara Storage Cloud and it’s “as-a-service” business model were developed to put your mind at ease. At Zadara, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our storage solution. We realize that this is a rapidly innovative space, and because of that we are always working to find ways to align with your changing world. The amount of storage you need tomorrow isn’t the same amount that you needed yesterday (or let alone 3-5 years ago when you bought or leased it). Your storage also may no longer be the appropriate data type or protocol given your new workloads and/or applications.
A Universal Storage Solution
To combat these recurring IT issues, Zadara has created an all-in-one, universal storage solution, so that no matter your location, data type, protocol, capacity or performance requirements — we are always aligned.
Let’s discuss a few obstacles IT managers may have recently been faced with, and how Zadara is here to help resolve them with our recent enhancements and addition of new features.
Everything-As-a-Service
Over the past decade, there has been a shift to ‘as-a-service’ models; there’s IT-as-a-service, software-as-a-service, infrastructure as-a-service, storage-as-a-service, and more. More and more organizations are adopting these business models because they are saving companies hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours.
Take Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS) for example. With Zadara Storage-as-a-Service, you have all the features and benefits of traditional enterprise storage (such as snapshots, mirroring, online volume migration, etc.) but you also enjoy the economic benefits of a pure OpEx, pay-as-you-go service and have a 24/7 support team monitoring your storage. Not only that, it’s a completely scalable solution which means you can use as little or as much as you need… which brings me to my next point.
CapEx to OpEx Budgets
The shift to an as-a-service business model results in a transition from capital expense to operating expense. Many IT organizations are used to purchasing (or leasing) storage arrays in one large transaction. This has lead to over-provisioning and over-purchasing of too much storage. It’s (nearly) impossible to predict how much storage your department or business will need in 1, 2, or 5 years. Depending on the contract, which is typically 3-5 years, you’re stuck with what you initially purchased until your contract is up. This poses two problems: you bought too much or you didn’t buy enough. What would you rather do?
What if I told you that you didn’t have to do either, by simply switching to an OpEx, consumption-based pricing model? That’s where Zadara and the cloud come in.
Cloud Migration
The cloud has been around for a long time, but not every business has adopted cloud computing and/or storage. A lot of people are still trying to figure it out. The beautiful thing about the cloud is not just the sunsets behind it, but the variety of options that it brings. There are many different cloud solutions: public, private, or a hybrid model which involves a bit of both. Zadara Storage offers all three to align with your needs, and we recommend migrating on a small scale. Move certain projects to the cloud and test it out to see what works for you.
Security
One of the reasons IT professionals have been slow to adopt the cloud is due to security concerns. Zadara provides both at-rest and in-flight encryption where the user owns the keys, so once the password is set, you (and only you) have access to your data.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the recent changes and challenges posed by the storage industry, and we’d be foolish to say that there aren’t many more coming. With that in mind, Zadara Storage is always aligned with your ever-changing world. We are always aligned for success, and our storage specialists are at your service for all your storage needs.
To learn more about the industry-wide shift to the as-a-service, OpEx model, and how and where Zadara fits in, join us in Southern California for the Zadara Storage Summit. We’ll be joined by industry experts, analysts, customers, partners, and other IT professionals to discuss a variety of topics pertaining to IT and storage. Make sure your business is aligned for success by clicking here to sign up today.
