Storage Executive Commentary

1. Prepare Now For The Hybrid Cloud Upsurge Trend
   5/9/2013

   There are a couple of reasons this uptick in hybrid cloud adoption is so important. First, it speaks to your customers’ security fears when considering public-cloud-only options combined with the fact that private-only cloud options can sometimes be cost prohibitive. And second, deploying a hybrid cloud strategy is more complicated than a public-only or private-only strategy. Where there is more complexity, the channel becomes more relevant.

2. Helping SMBs Institute Smart, Secure, Scalable Storage
   4/15/2013

   Data volume is growing exponentially year over year in the small and midsize business (SMB) space. Emails never stop coming in or going out, shared files continue to grow, and documents must be retained for legal compliance. As SMBs continue to become increasingly aware of their storage needs and wants, and as the amount of data they need to store continues to grow, value-added resellers (VARs) can take advantage of the resulting business opportunities.

3. Growing Your IT Support Business By Becoming A Managed Service Provider
   4/9/2013

   If you are reading this, chances are you’re the owner of a small to medium sized business (SMB) quickly reaching the limits of what you can do with your current break/fix model and you are keen to know where you can go from here. That or you’re more than happy with your break/fix business and are curious to know what exactly we think is wrong with it. Either way you’ve come to the right place.

4. Use BDR To Evolve From IT Provider To Trusted Advisor
   4/3/2013

   One common misconception of IT providers is that backup and disaster recovery (BDR) is an ancillary part of their job. It’s actually the most important. The right BDR solution not only prevents IT downtime and data loss, but can also help IT providers build strong customer relationships that will pave the way to massive profit growth.  Here’s how IT providers can offer deeper value and become trusted advisors.

5. 4 Tips For Disaster-Proofing Your Customers’ Businesses
   3/25/2013

   Are you confident that your customers’ backup and recovery solution will protect business-critical operations in a disaster? Are they confident?

6. Why Are Channel Partners Closing Multiple Deals Within The Cloud?
   3/19/2013

   The channel industry is evolving – it’s no longer focused on pushing boxes, but selling solutions. Channel partners need to ensure they can provide the end customer with solutions currently in customer demand.

7. The 6 Stages Of Effective Incident Management
   3/18/2013

   The incident management life cycle begins long before an incident. Effective incident management begins with pre-incident planning, which includes mitigation and preparation.

8. Using Storage QoS To Accelerate, Control And Guarantee Performance
   1/17/2013

   Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a customer who is considering deploying a virtual infrastructure. Their existing deployment consists of high-performance servers connected to direct-attached storage (DAS). Ensuring adequate application performance has always been the key driving factor for their infrastructure strategy, but with 26 servers and more coming online this year, footprint, power and cooling are becoming huge issues.

9. How Channel Partners Can Help Customers Take Advantage Of the Open Cloud
   11/1/2012

   As open cloud technology gives customers unprecedented choice and freedom, channel partners are in a position to also benefit from changes to the business landscape. By Chris Rajiah, VP of worldwide partner sales, Rackspace

10. Storage Blade Arrays Enable Benefits Of Converged Infrastructures
    10/25/2012

    There are many different definitions, types, and solutions for converged infrastructure, but storage innovations – like storage blade arrays – are a key enabler for reducing overall IT complexity in converged environments. By Travis Vigil, executive director, Dell