Originating Author: David Floyer
From the point of view of a business application owner or an IT application implementer, storage services interpose a layer of bureaucracy and take away a degree of freedom. Large organizations with a CIO for each division can represent the greatest challenge to continued employment for storage administrators.
Many managers find it fun to evaluate and decide every element of the technology stack, and fierce loyalties are built up to certain vendors. The benefits of storage services include reduced costs and complexity and are derived from economies of scale and a collective agreement to use the service. If senior management is perceived as allowing exceptions, they will be inundated with business cases and virulent lobbying. A process where storage administration has to seek renewed authority from senior management will result in the preparation of three envelopes and a resume. A storage services initiative cannot be optional or a recommendation; it has to be a mandate.
Action Item: Storage services procedures must be free from bureaucracy and exceptions. Unless there is a clear unambiguous mandate from a senior manager with sufficient authority and control, human nature will sink a storage services initiative and the people who try to implement it.
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