While there is no direct correlation between installing a IBM Real-time Compression appliance and unplugging equipment, primary data compression is poised to make an important contribution to the storage efficiency mandate.
As we heard from Shopzilla and other practitioners, including John Blackman of Safeway, a service-oriented approach to storage enables organizations to simplify infrastructure and improve storage efficiency.
Their advice is to consider including primary data compression as a component within a services offering (e.g. file services). A services approach stresses that clients shouldn’t care what’s running; rather they should care that infrastructure is running well and meeting SLA’s.
Further, a services approach, combined with a heterogeneous compression engine enables a strategy for IT to charge back at an agreed upon rate and retain 'profits' to defray IT costs.
Action Item: Users should immediately investigate the applicability of compression to primary storage. Implementing a compression engine such as that offered by IBM Real-time Compression can enable IT to bundle storage optimization as a component of a broader services offering. The drawback of this approach is less technology choice for myriad IT groups. However this constraint also limits diversity and improves cost efficiency and productivity.
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