Storage administration is not prone to knee jerk reaction. This is another way of saying administrators don't like change. In IT organizations following a virtualization strategy, storage often brings up the rear. What's the formula for getting storage folks to be more enthusiastic, if they're not on board?
Start with metrics that matter. For example, users indicate it takes anywhere from four to six months to migrate an array. If equipment is on a three-year lease, that means a good portion of every year is spent planning array migrations-- not very productive for IT or the business. Putting incentives in place for storage admins to get that figure down to less than one month is a good way to create some urgency and momentum.
The other complimentary approach organizationally is to expose storage administration to other parts of the organization that have successfully implemented virtualization (e.g. on the server side). Setting up cross-functional teams will reinforce the notion that IT virtualization is good for business, and storage cannot be an impediment to that goal.
Action Item: Storage administration will often initially resist virtualization and the changes it brings. However appropriate training, preparation and exposure to other virtualization layers will generate enthusiasm for the hard work that's ahead. Management objectives that tie incentives to metrics related to migration, reduced software costs or simplified storage management have proven highly effective.
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