IBM established a lead in virtualization with a simple product that solves real problems one step at a time. The true cost of refreshing storage technology ranges from 30%-60% of the acquisition cost of storage, the cost of unused storage about 100%, and the cost of managing the complexity of storage is well over 100% over the array life. By providing solutions that shorten the time to commission storage, improve utilization rates, and reduce complexity IBM has established a user base of more than 9,900 SVC engines and 3,400 systems. The ease of adoption of the solution has proved more important than the quality of the virtualization technology.
Action Item: Include the costs of technology management, change and refresh in the business case for all storage solutions.
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