Amid the economic uncertainty that has gripped 2023, IT leaders are scrambling to find ways to reduce costs. Enterprise storage is one of those areas that the IT team can look at for substantial cost savings without sacrificing availability, reliability, cyber resilience, or application performance. Taking a more strategic approach to your enterprise storage infrastructure will make a difference to the bottom line. Shifting to storage-as-a-service (STaaS) is a powerful strategy to lower costs, while increasing capabilities. STaaS is an example of a flexible, cloud-like consumption approach that delivers financial benefits of only using the storage capacity that is needed.
One STaaS model is a mix of CAPEX storage upfront and cloud-like operating expansions or “bursts” month to month, as needed. Another STaaS model is fully OPEX-based with cloud-like, pay-as-you-go consumption model – whether up or down in storage capacity. You choose what works best for your organization.
Your enterprise simply consumes the storage in a different way, whether through a cloud-like OPEX model or a hybrid CAPEX/OPEX model. Of course, some companies may still want to buy the traditional CAPEX model, but these two models over enterprises maximum flexibility. In fact, in one region the enterprise could use STaaS, another region traditional CAPEX, and another region the hybrid model that combines CAPEX and OPEX.
Shifting to STaaS translates into substantial cost savings. The consolidation of storage reduces CAPEX and OPEX costs significantly. Managing two arrays is naturally more cost-effective than managing 10 arrays, as an example. All of the conservation of power, cooling, data center space, and IT resources also convert into lower total cost of ownership, thanks to storage-as-a-service.
Plus, enterprises that are accustomed to using mid-range products are getting high-end storage capabilities at a mid-range price point that is highly compatible with many IT budgets by shifting to these models for enterprise storage. Enterprises that are used to using mid-range storage products can now get all the benefits of high-end storage features and functionality by doing storage-as-a-service with high-end enterprise storage solutions.
STaaS gives you the opportunity to simplify your data center by consolidating storage. It is easier to manage two storage arrays than 14 storage arrays, or one array instead of 10 arrays. STaaS saves floor space, rack space, and power and cooling requirements. There is less to manage – substantially less. It takes less to manage one or two arrays than 10 or more arrays. There is simply less storage management, saving on resource needs and OPEX costs.
Moreover, this simplification makes the data center greener. Not only are you consuming less energy with the reduction in power and cooling needs, but when you retire your older storage arrays, there are fewer platforms to recycle or dispose of, complying with green initiatives. The more efficient use of energy, space, lighting and temperature sensors – emitting less carbon from less power consumption – makes the data center more environmentally-friendly. Simpler means greener, which translates into economic savings – if you will, the “Double E” benefits of environmentally friendly and better economics.
In addition, you should still seek out 100% availability, guaranteed performance and white glove service. You don’t need to compromise. With STaaS, you can still have all the same high-end enterprise features as you would with a traditional enterprise storage purchase: ease of use, our set-it-and-forget-it approach, autonomous automation, advanced cybersecurity protection, and unmatched flexibility with AIOps and DevOps.
Look for a system that comes fully populated. It’s also better to select a storage platform on which there is no need to schedule additional storage to be added at a later date; no need to manage buffer capacity; and no added complexity.