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November2014,IDC#252355
WHITE PAPER
Embracing Enterprise Hybrid Cloud Storage
Sponsoredby:Microsoft
AshishNadkarni LauraDuBoisLizConnerNovember2014
IDC OPINION
ManybusinessesareembracingelementsthatmakeuptheIDC3rdPlatformera,suchasInternetof
Things,real-timeanalytics,robotics,andcognitivecomputing.Manyothersarereinventingthemselves
andfindingnewerwaystosavecostsandmaintainorregaintheircompetitiveedgewhenitcomesto
customersatisfaction,operationalefficiency,andmarketintelligence.ITorganizationsatsuch
businesseshavetomanageunprecedenteddemandsoninfrastructure.Toeffectivelymeettheneeds
oftheirconstituents,ITorganizationsareincreasinglyadoptinganagileinfrastructurethatincludes
neweropex-friendlyapproaches,suchashybridcloud,tomanagetheirassetfootprint.Inotherwords,
hybridcloudallowsITtosuperimposeon-premisesconstructsonas-a-serviceconstructs.The
backbonesupportingthishybridcloudapproachishybridcloudstorage.Hybridcloudstoragenotonly
isoneofthefastest-growingpiecesofhybridcloudbutalsohasthelion'sshareoffocusfromanIT
standpoint.Specifically,thehybridcloudstorageapproachallowsITto:
Extend the cloud into the datacenter:HybridcloudstorageallowsITtoconnectthebuild-
operate-maintainmodeltoanas-a-servicemodelwithoutchanginghowapplicationsaccessstoragelocally.Inaddition,publiccloudstoragecanbeleveragedforapplicationsthatsearchandanalyzehistoricalcopiesofdata.
Leverage the cloud for data protection, cold storage, and disaster recovery (DR):Byadoptinghybridcloudstorage,ITcanimplementcrucialbusinesscontinuity(BC)andoperationalfunctionsatafractionofthecostofimplementingtheminthetraditionalon-premises-basedbuild-operate-maintainmodel.AdoptinghybridcloudstoragealsomakesdisasterrecoverypossibleandallowsITtotestDRprocessestodeliverarobustservicethatmeetscorporatepoliciesandregulatoryneeds.
Maintain service levels:ITcanmaintainhotorfrequentlyaccesseddataon-premiseswhileleveragingpubliccloudstorageforcold/unuseddatasetsaswellasburstcapacityandsecondarycopies.Indoingso,expectedperformanceandavailabilitylevelsforapplicationsshouldbepreserved.
Adopt a pay-as-you-go model:Byleveragingcloudstorageservices,ITcanminimizeorinsomecasesavoiditsdatacenterexpansioncostsviaareductioninspendingfortraditionalstorageandtheneedtoexpandthedatacenterinordertohouseadditionalhardware — whicharethebiggestcomponentsofmostITbudgets.
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SupplierslikeMicrosoftaremakingiteasierforbusinessestoadopthybridcloudstorage.Microsoft
offerstheabilitytodeploytightlyintegratedhybridcloudfunctionalityintodatacenterapplicationsvia
cloud-enabledstorageplatformslikeStorSimple(whichistightlyintegratedwithAzurepubliccloud
storage).Microsoftisalsobuildingcloud-baseddataprotectionandarchivingmechanismsintoits
applicationslikeSQLServerandExchange.VirtualeditionsoftheStorSimpleapplianceandSQL
BackuptoURL,forexample,makeiteasiertoprovidedataaccessanddatamobilityandleverage
computeintheAzurecloudtosupporttypicalexistingITprocesseslikedevelopmentandtestingandpatchingandnewbusinessneedslikedataanalysis.
SITUATION OVERVIEW
DatacentershaveformedthefoundationonwhichITorganizationscandeliveressentialservicestotheir
businessconstituents.Sincetheinceptionofthedatacenter,modernITorganizationshavedonea
commendablejoboforchestratingdemandforserviceswiththebuildoutofdatacenter-based
infrastructure.Withacomplexarsenaloftoolsattheirdisposal,ITteamscanmanagethedemandand
supplysidesofstorageandcomputeinfrastructureinareasonablyconsistentandpredictablemanner.
Theyhavebeenabletodosobecause,forthemostpart,mostbusinessunitshavebeentrainedtomakerequestsforadditionalcapacityviaaproject-basedprocurementapproachorbyselectingfromanIT
servicecatalog,whosecurrencyandsupplyismaintainedbyITviaapre-determinedbudgetcycle.
Predictabilityistheoperativewordinthedemand-supplyrelationshipthatbusinessunitshavewithIT.
Businessesontheotherhandhavebeenfuriouslyundergoingatransformation.Theirquestfor
businessvelocity,survivalinthemobileandsocialera,andtheabilitytoadapttothepaceof
innovationrequiresITtopavethewayforthesebusinessneedsbyadoptinganagiledata-driven
approachtodoingbusiness.Thismeansthatbusinessesneedto:
Collect,store,andanalyzemultipleanddiversesetsofdata — oftenattimesfromoutsidesourcessuchassocialmediastreams.Manyofthesedatasetsarealsousefulinpost-processhistoricaltrendanalysis.
Quicklyincorporateordropadditionaldatasetsandassociatedapplications,withoutmuchplanningand/orpre-formatting.
Analyzeincomingdatasetsinareal-timeornear-real-timemanner,oftenforcausalityorcorrelation,andthenleveragetheinformationbackintochanginghowtheyconductbusiness.
Usherinaglobalcollaborationandcommunicationsframeworkwhereintheirworkforcecanbegeodispersedbutbevirtuallytogetherandsharecommonproject-relateddatasets.
ThistransformationmeansthatITcannolongeroperateinthetraditionalmannerinwhichitcan
anticipateorseekinfrastructureadditions,specificallystorageinfrastructure.Ithastoseekafaster,
highlyscalableapproachthatiseconomicalyetstillworkswiththehighavailabilityofenterprisestorage.ThistransformationbyITcanhelpstrengthenabusiness'approachtocompliance,corporate
policies,anddataretention,whichareallrequirementsthatbusinessesoftenstruggletoaddresswith
traditionalmethods.
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The Dawn of a New Era — The Growth of Cloud
Astraditionaldatacentersstruggletokeepupinthemodernmobileandsocialera,ITbudgetshave
beenstretchedtothebreakingpointundertraditionalmodels.BusinessescontinuetolookforIT
solutionsthatprovideagility,capacity,andcohesivenesswithexistingdatacenterswhileremaining
opexfriendly.Theprimarysolutionthathasemergediscloud-enabledinfrastructures,platforms,and
services.BusinessesareincreasinglylookingtoadoptcloudfortheirITneedsbecauseofthequickscalabilityandpay-as-you-growmodel.IDCsurveyed1,109businessesworldwide,askingwhat
percentageoftheirITbudgetwouldbeallocatedtotraditionalIT(in-houseoroutsourced)versus
cloud-basedITarchitectures(public,private,orhybrid).AlthoughtraditionalITcurrentlyremainsthe
majorityofITspend,within24months,cloudspendingisexpectedtoexceedtraditionalITspending,
andby2020,thistrendisfurtherreinforced(seeFigure1).
FIGURE 1
Worldwide Allocation of Total IT Budget
Source:IDC,2013
Cloudistypicallydeployedinoneofthreegeneralways:
Public cloud:Shared,on-demandITandbusinessservicesaccessedoverthepublicInternet,basedonpay-as-you-gomodelsforindividualsandusersfrommanyunrelatedcompanies
Private cloud:DedicatedITservices(eitherlocatedatacompanysiteorhostedbyathird-partyoffsiteprovider)whereassetsarevirtualizedandorganizedasacloudanduseisrestrictedforusersinasingleorganization
Hybrid cloud:Applicationsandworkloadsdeployedacrossamixofpubliccloudandon-premisesresourcesandmanagedinawaythatmovesandscalesworkloadsacrossthepubliccloud/on-premisesboundaryasneeded
0 20 40 60 80 100
2020
24 months
Today
(%)
Traditional
Cloud
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ThemidrangeportionoftheiSCSIstoragesystemsmarketisparticularlyrelevanttothehybridcloudmarket,ashybridcloudsolutions,suchasMicrosoft'sStorSimple,areiSCSI-basedsolutionsthatcantargetassociatedworkloadsforprimarystorage.Suchamarket,asignificantportionofwhichiscurrentlybeingservedbytraditional,on-premisesstoragesystems,wouldthenbepartoftheoveralltotaladdressablemarketforhybridcloudsolutionslikeStorSimple.
Theshiftfromconventionalstoragedeploymentstoacloud-basedmodel,whetherpublic,private,orhybrid,isacontinuingtheme.Publicandprivateclouddeploymentsarecurrentlythelargestandmost
wellknown.However,hybridcloudisexpectedtogarnergreaterinterestgoingforwardasitallowsfor
theflexibilityandagilityofpubliccloudwhileofferingthesecurityofon-premisesstorage.Findings
fromoursurveyof1,109worldwidebusinessesreinforcethispoint.Weaskedsurveyparticipantswhat
kindofclouddeploymenttheyarecurrentlyusingforstorageversuswhatkindtheyexpecttobeusing
in24months,andtheirresponsesindicatedgrowthforallformsofcloud-basedstorage.Inthecontext
ofthissurvey,hybridcloudimplementationsaredeployedacrossamixofpublicandprivatecloud
resources.Hybridcloudwillbenefitfromthegrowthofbothprivateandpubliccloudforstorageuse
(seeFigure2).
FIGURE 2
Percentages of Storage Capacity Deployments in Businesses
Source:IDC,2013
0 10 20 30 40 50
Public cloud (external)
Private cloud (hosted infrastructure akavirtual private cloud)
Private cloud (internal onsite, cloud-like,virtualized/automated)
Conventional deployment (onsite)
(%)
Today
24 months
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Intermsofrevenueshift,WorldwideEnterpriseStorageforPublicandPrivateCloud2013 – 2017
Forecast (IDC#244924,December2013)showsthecombinedpublicandprivateclouddeployment
spendingforstoragehardware,software,andservicesgrowingata19.1%CAGRfrom$13.7billionin
2013to$27.6billionby2017.Publiccloudwas54.0%ofthetotalcloudrevenuein2013andis
expectedtogrowataCAGRof14.5%to$12.7billionin2017.Keydriversimpactingthegrowthof
cloud,specificallypubliccloud,include:
Lower datacenter cost:Asdataisstoredoff-premise,thecostsofpower,cooling,andphysicalfootprintaresignificantlylowered.
Ability to quickly scale:Publiccloudallowsbusinessestoincrease/decreasestorageon-demand,quicklyscalingtoacompany'sneedswithouthavingtostandupadditionalnodesinadatacenter.
Disaster recovery:Datastoredatanoffsiteand(hopefully)geographicallydisperseddatacenterallowsforbusinesscontinuityinthecaseofanaturaldisasterormaliciousattack.
Time to market:Publiccloudallowsforquickerdeploymentofcloudstorage,compute,services,andfeaturesasphysicalunitsdonotneedtobeshippedorinstalled.
Embracing Hybrid Cloud Storage — Cloud-Enabled Storage Platforms
Cloud-enabledstorageplatforms(CESPs)aretheprimarymannerinwhichbusinessescandeploy
hybridcloudstorage.CESPsresideonthecustomerpremisesandleveragecloudstorage(viaSOAP-
orREST-basedinterfaces)asasecondaryortertiarystoragetier.Fromthehostside,however,they
functionverymuchlikeprimarystoragearrayswithstandarddatacenterstorageinterfacessuchas
block-based(iSCSIandFibreChannel)orfile-based(NFSandCIFS)interfaces.Inotherwords,
CESPsprovidethesamefunctionalityasenterprisestorageplatformswhilealsoprovidingatiered
storagearchitecturethatspansdatacenterandcloudstorage.CESPsutilizethecloudasthe
persistentsecondaryortertiarystoragelayerinconjunctionwiththeprimaryand/orsecondarytierof
physicaldiskforpersistentstorageofactivedatasets.CESPscanbedeliveredasappliances,as
softwareonly,oraspre-packagedvirtualappliances.
HybridcloudstorageisgainingpopularitybecauseitallowsITtomeetunpredictabledemandand
protectexistingdatacenterinvestmentsanddosowhilemorphingintoanagileservice-drivenentity.
Byembracinghybridcloudstorage,ITcantrulyenableitsconstituentstoaccelerateadata-driven
transformation.
ITorganizationsshouldalsotakeamoreholisticapproachtohybridcloudstorage.Theycan
complementtheirhybridcloudstoragebyintegratingpubliccloudaccessdirectlyintotheir
applications.Newerdatabaseandemailapplicationsaccesscloudstoragedirectly(viaAPIs)anduse
itasatierforcolder/inactivedatasetsorforsnapshots,cloning,backup,orarchivingpurposes.In
addition,asneeded,businessescanrelyoncloud-basedemail,collaboration,andproductivityapplicationsforprovidingtheiruserswithon-the-goaccesstotheirdatafromavarietyofdevices,
includingmobilephones.
Inshort,aholistichybridcloudstorageapproachallowsITtoquicklyscaleitsinfrastructuretobusiness
demandsanddosoatareducedcapexoverhead,becauseofreducedinvestmentsinadditional
on-premisesprimarystorage,dataprotection,disasterrecovery,andarchivinginfrastructure.
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MICROSOFT STORSIMPLE HYBRID CLOUD STORAGE
AsupplierlikeMicrosoftthatoffersdatacentersolutions,end-usersolutions,andpubliccloudsolutions
isinauniquepositiontobeapartnerforbusinesseslookingtoembracethecloud.TheStorSimple
technologythatMicrosoftacquiredin2012servesasanidealsolutionforITorganizationsthatwantto
deployhybridcloudstorage.
Attheverycore,StorSimpleisacloud-enabledstorageplatform.Fromahostconnectivityperspective,
itfunctionslikeanon-premisesenterprisediskstoragesystem.However,fromapersistentstorage
perspective,itisintegratedwithpubliccloudinfrastructure-as-a-service(IaaS)offeringssuchas
MicrosoftAzureandleveragesstoragecontainersinsuchofferingsfortiering,backup,archival,and
disasterrecoverypurposes.
StorSimpleisidealforITorganizationsthatwanttocontroltheirdataviaon-premisesconstructswhile
benefitingfromtheopex-centriceconomicsofas-a-serviceconstructs.WithStorSimple,theycan:
Operate applications in a business as usual fashion :Applicationsstillresideonservers(physicalorvirtual)thatareconnectedtoon-premisesstorageplatformsviaastandardIP-basedblockprotocol(iSCSI).Usersaccessingtheseapplicationsthereforedonotnoticeanydifference,andbusinessunitsdonothavetochangeanyoperationalprocessesasaresult.StorSimpleusesSSDsandHDDsinthesamefashionasotherenterprisearrays — fortieringpurposes — andthereforeStorSimplecanbeusedforperformance-optimizedaswellascapacity-optimizedapplications.
Minimize their datacenter expansion costs:TheStorSimplesolutionoffersthesameleveloffunctionalityasotherleadingenterprisestoragesolutions.ITcanthusintroduceitintotheenvironmentwithoutanychangestotheinfrastructureandusestandardtoolstomigrateapplicationstotheplatform.However,unliketraditionalstorageinfrastructure,additionalStorSimplecapacityhasaminimalimpactonthedatacenterfootprint(becausemuchofthis
capacityisactuallybeingaddedtothecloud).Similarly,cloud-enableddataresiliency,availability,andprotectioncapabilitiesmeanthatthisadditionalcapacitydoesnotresultinanetincreasetoadjunctinfrastructuresuchasthatusedfordataprotection.Capacitymanagementisnowanopex-friendlyactivity.
Deliver minimal cloud footprint and download time:TheStorSimpleapplianceisfullyintegratedwiththeMicrosoftAzurecloud,allowingforaseamlesstransitionofdatafromon-premisestothecloud.Dataisdeduplicated,compressed,andencryptedpriortobeingmovedtotheMicrosoftAzurecloud,ensuringminimalcloudfootprintandefficientrecovery.BackupdatainAzureisstoredinAzurebucketsasmetadataviaincrementalcloudsnapshots.Inthecaseofrecovery(itemlevelorduetodisaster),acloudsnapshotdateandtimeareselected,withonlythemetadatamapbeingdownloadedtothestoragearrayintherecoverysite.ThisfeatureallowsforfastrecoverywithlowerRPOsandshorterRTOs.
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Economically implement crucial business continuity and disaster recovery: ForbusinessesstrugglingwithburgeoningBC/DRcosts,hybridcloudviaStorSimpleprovidesaneconomicalalternative.StorSimpleleveragescloudstoragenotjustforautomatedtieringandlong-termstorageofinactivedatasetsbutalsoforarchivalandbackuppurposes.Cloud-basedthin,dedupedsnapshotscanbeusedforquickrollbackofdataon-premisesorwhenfullrecoveryofdataataprimaryorsecondarysiteisneeded.AndshouldITwanttorecoverdatainthe
cloud,StorSimpleisalsoavailableintheformofacloud-basedvirtualapplianceinstance.Theneedtovisitaremotesitetomanageremovabledataprotectionmediaorupgradestoragecapacityisalsominimizedbecausedataprotectionandcapacityexpansionaredoneautomaticallybythearrayusingcloudstorage.Cloud-basedsnapshotsalsoallowforDRtesting,resultinginmorerobustadherencetocorporatepoliciesaswellasincreasinglystringentregulatoryandcomplianceregulations.
Consolidate and improve storage management:TosimplifythemanagementprocesseswithinIT,StorSimple,foritsrecentlyannounced8000series,implementsacentralmanagementportalthroughAzurethatcontrolsallstoragefunctionsacrossphysicalstoragearraysandvirtualappliances.TheStorSimpleManagerprovidesasingle,consolidatedmanagementpointthatusestheInternetasacontrolplanetoconfigureallparametersofStorSimple8000
seriesarraysandfordisplayingup-to-the-minutestatusinformationinaunifieddashboard.DatamanagementtaskssuchasconfiguringdataretentionpoliciesorprovisioningstorageareaccomplishedfromtheStorSimpleManagerforallsites,enablingsingle-pane-of-glassmanagementaswellascentralizedcompliancewithcorporatestandards.StorSimpleManagerprovidesaconduitviawhichITorganizationscandomorethanjustdeployhybridcloudstorage;theycanalsomanageitcentrally.Thisextendstheeconomicsofcloudstoragetotheinfrastructuremanagementsideaswell.
Secure data in the cloud:Toaddresssecurityconcernswithpubliccloudstorage,StorSimpleencryptsalldatawithAES-256priortodatatransfer,andthedataremainsencryptedwhileinmotionandatrestinthecloud.Alldatainthecloudisstoredwithaprivatekeythatisknownonlytotheenduser.Thislevelofsecurityprotectsthedatafromviewbyallsourcesexcepttheenduserandkeepsthedatasecureregardlessofwhereitisstored.Inaddition,data
storedintheAzurecloudviaStorSimplecontainsAzure'smultifactorauthentication,whichallowsforasimplesign-inprocessbutrequiresanadditionalverification — phonecall,textmessage,ormobileappnotification — toprovideadditionalsecuritymeasuresforaccessingstoreddata.
Mobilize enterprise data:Thecloudisnotjustanexcellentmediumfortieringofinactivedatasets;dataclonedinthecloudcanalsobeusedforoff-hostdevelopment/test,DRtesting,analytics,andothercompute-intensiveactivities,suchasapplicationsthatcansearchandanalyzehistoricalcopiesofdata.Theabilitytounlockanddataminehistoricaldataiseconomicallysignificantbecausedatahasbeentraditionallytiedupintape,wheretapeisdifficult/timeconsumingtoretrieveletalonederivevaluefromthedatastoredonit.However,datamininghistoricaldataspotlightsthechallengewithmakingadditionallong-terminvestmentinastorageinfastructuretosolelysupporttheworkloadsneededtoderivevaluefromtheselargedatasets.
StorSimpleoffersexcellentsupportforapplicationssuchasSQLServeraswellasplatformssuchas
WindowsServerandHyper-V.SinceStorSimpleisanenterpriseSANstoragesolutionbasedon
iSCSI,itprovidesdeploymentflexibilityandiswellsuitedforVMwareandLinuxenvironmentsaswell.
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Other Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Storage-Enabling Technologies/Services
Microsoftisalsobuildingdirectpubliccloudaccessintoitsapplications.Suchapplicationsuseon-
premisesstorageforprimarydatabutalsodirectlyleveragecloudstorageforapplication-aware
backuporarchivingpurposesandstreamdatatoandfromthepublicclouddependingontheuse
case.Inthecaseofbackuporarchiving,suchapplicationseliminateorminimizetheneedforon-
premisesbackups.Theseapplicationsarealsodesignedtomakerecoveryeasierinthecloud — data
backeduptothecloudcanbequicklymadeavailabletoaninstanceoftheapplicationrunninginsidea
cloud-basedvirtualmachineinstance.
SQL Server Azure backups:SQLServerisMicrosoft'srelationaldatabaseplatform.WiththereleaseofSQLServer2014,Microsoftintroducedanewhybriddisasterrecoveryandbackupsolution.ByspecifyingapubliccloudstorageURLasthebackupdestination,enduserscannowbackuptheirdatabasedirectlytotheAzurecloud.Inaddition,thebackupfilesstoredinthecloudareavailabletoeitheranon-premisesSQLinstanceoronehostedonaMicrosoftAzureVirtualMachine,withouttheneedfordownloading/attachingtheVHDordatabaseattach/detach.
Exchange Online Archiving: ExchangeOnlineArchivingiscloud-basedarchivingofMicrosoft'sExchangeemailserver,allowinganorganizationtohostauser'sprimarymailboxviaon-premisesserverswhilestoringtheuser'shistoricalemaildatainacloud-basedmailbox.Thishybridsolutionletsuserskeeptheirmostrecentorimportantemaillocallywhileaddressinglong-termretentionrequirementswithouttheneedtoexpandon-premisesstorageordatacenters.Inaddition,cloud-basedarchivingletscompaniesmeetcomplianceandregulatoryregulationswhilebeingabletoperformseamlessdiscoverysearchesacrossbothon-premisesmailboxesandcloud-basedarchivesforeDiscoveryandlitigation.
Azure Site Recovery Services:AzureSiteRecoveryhelpsbusinessesprotectimportantapplicationsbycoordinatingthereplicationandrecoveryofprivatecloudsacrosssites.AzureSiteRecoveryincludestheprotectionofvirtualmachinesaswellasdatabasesandotherapplications.Businessescanprotectapplicationsintheirownsecondarysiteorinacollocated
orhostedsite.TheycanevenuseAzureasthedisasterrecoverysite.Businessescanavoidtheexpenseandcomplexityofbuildingandmaintainingsecondarylocations.
Azure Backup:AzureBackupisaWindowsServerfeaturethatallowsbusinessestobackuptheiron-premisesdatafromWindowsServer,WindowsServerEssentials,andSystemCenterDataProtectionManagerdirectlytotheAzurecloud.Toensurereliabilityandsecurity,AzureBackupissecureoverthewireandatrest,whilebackupdataisstoredingeo-replicatedstorage,whichmaintainssixcopiesofthedataacrosstwoAzuredatacenters.ITefficiencyisgainedthroughencryption,throughcompression,andbybackinguponlyincrementalchanges,atdefinedfrequencies,tothecloud — oncetheinitialdataseedingiscompleted.
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OPPORTUNITIES/CHALLENGES FOR MICROSOFT
Asstatedpreviously,asupplierlikeMicrosoftisinauniquepositiontoofferafullportfolioofsolutions
toenablebusinessesofallshapesandsizestoadopthybridcloudstorage.Byofferingafull-service
IaaS,Microsoftcancloudenablebothitsownandthird-partyapplicationsandinfrastructuresolutions.
HybridcloudstoragepresentsamajoropportunityforMicrosoftbecauseitoffers:
A complete environment connected to Microsoft Azure:Microsofthasthebreadthofsolutionstoofferpublic,private,andhybridcloudsolutionsforbusinessesofallsizes.ItcanoffercustomersasenseofcontinuityfortheirenvironmentbyallowingseamlessmobilitybetweentheirdatacenterandtheAzurepubliccloud.Itcanalsoprovidecomprehensivesingletier1vendorsupportforallservicesrelatedtothecloud.
A cloud solution without the security fears of public cloud: Oneofthebiggestfears,whetherrealorperceived,regardingpubliccloudisdatasecurity.Inapubliccloudenvironment,potentialcustomershaveafearthatmission-critical/sensitivedatawillbelost,stolen,ormisused.Microsoft'shybridcloudstoragesolutionscanofferamiddle-of-the-roadapproachtobusinessesthatareapprehensiveaboutembracingpubliccloudservicesfully.Byhavingthe
choiceofkeepingmission-criticaland/orsensitivedatalocalandon-premises,businessescanmitigatesecurityfearsaroundpubliccloudstoragewhilestillavailingthemselvesofthescalability,dataresiliency,andeconomicbenefitspubliccloudhastooffer.
The ability to seamlessly run Microsoft services and applications: Microsofthasapantheonofvariousbusinesssoftware,services,andapplicationsthatareabletorunontopofitscloudinfrastructure.Itshybridcloudstoragesolutions,specificallyStorSimple,havetheaddedbenefitofbeingabletoseamlesslyintegratethesevariousservices/applicationsandoffertheminatraditionalon-premisesmannerorasapubliccloudservice.ThisallowsenduserstobecreativeinhowandwheretheyimplementdifferentMicrosoftofferings.
Application-based on-ramp to cloud-based environments:Microsoft'shybridcloudsolutionslikeSQLServerAzureBackupandExchangeArchivingserveasanexcellenton-rampfor
Microsoft'sownpubliccloudservicesbutalsoprovidebusinessestheflexibilityshouldtheywanttoaddordeploystorageinanotherpubliccloudservice.StorSimple,ontheotherhand,canprovideagentletransitiontothecloudbyofferingaprivatecloud-likeenvironmentwhiletransparentlyleveragingthepubliccloud.
AsMicrosofttakeshybridcloudstoragetothenextlevel,itwillnodoubtfinditselfcompetingwithboth
traditionalon-premisesstoragesuppliersandotherIaaSsuppliers.Thesepotentialcompetitorsare
tryingtocloudenablethedatacenterintheirownway — byofferingflexibilityandoptions.Microsoft
needstoconvincepotentialcustomerswhyitshybridcloudstoragestrategyisthemostefficient,
economical,andflexibleamongothercompetitors.Microsofthastobecarefulinthefollowingareas:
Not forcing a hybrid cloud strategy that is tied only to Microsoft Azure:Microsoftapplications
thataredirectlytiedtothecloudwillneedtouseAzure.BeingrequiredtouseAzurecouldbeachallengewhenconvertingpotentialcustomersthatalreadyhavedatastoredonanothercloudplatform.MicrosoftmusthaveaseamlessdatatransferplaninplacetopresenttopotentialcustomerswiththisscenarioaswellasbeabletopointtothebenefitsofmovingtoAzureandtheentireMicrosoftenvironment.
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Winning business from companies that lack familiarity with hybrid cloud operations: AhybridcloudformatisdifferentfromatraditionaldatacenterandwillrequireanITstaffthatiswillingtolearnmethodology.AlthoughthefundamentalpremiseofStorSimpleisthatitiseasyandefficienttouse,potentialcustomersmaybehesitantashybridcloudisdifferentandunknownfromthetraditionaldatacenter.Microsoftcanlessenthestressoftheunknownbyhavingextensivecustomertraininginplaceforhybridcloudenvironmentsaswellasbyeducatingthe
customerontheautomated/managedfeaturesahybridcloudenvironmentbringstohelpITmaximizeitsreturnoninvestment.
Helping businesses leapfrog to a pure cloud environment:Withanycombinationorhybridenvironment,thereisalwaystheriskthatinthefuture,potentialorcurrentcustomerscouldbypassthehybridstageandmovecompletelytooneendofthespectrum.Thisistruewithahybridcloudenvironmentwhereenduserscouldpossiblymigratetoapubliccloudoffering,negatingtheneedforahybridsolution.AlthoughMicrosoftdoesofferapubliccloudenvironmentwithAzure,thehybridcloudofferingscouldsufferacasualtyasaresult.ItwillbeuptoMicrosofttohelpcustomerschoosetherighttypeofcloudenvironmentfortheirspecificneedsaroundperformance,scale,andcosts.
ESSENTIAL GUIDANCE
IDCexpectsmostbusinessestoundertakea"hybridcloudstoragejourney"astheyseektotransform
themselvesintodata-drivenentities.IDCexpectsthathybridcloud(andhybridcloudstorage)
eventuallywillbecomethedefactomodelforbusinessesthatwanttomaintainanon-premises
infrastructurebut,atthesametime,heavilyleverageanas-a-servicemodelforadditional
infrastructurecapacity.Theextenttowhichtheyleveragecloudwillvary.Largerenterprisestendto
takeahybridapproach.Theyleverageprivatecloudsfortier1ormission-criticaldatasets.Formuch
oftheirtier2/3datasets,whichcanbesizable,theycanbenefitfromahybridapproachtostoragethat
involvesasolutionlikeStorSimple.ForSMEsandSMBs,ahybridcloudapproachinvolvingasolution
likeStorSimpleservesthemwellincloudenablingtheirinfrastructurewithoutmuchchangetohow
theirapplicationsarearchitected.
Usingacombinationofvarioushybridcloudstorageapproaches,ITorganizationscanrealizethe
combinedbenefitsofon-premisesstorageandpubliccloudstorage.Thelargertheenterprise,the
moreacuteitsstoragemanagementcomplexity.Hybridcloudapproachesseektoreducethat
complexityandthereforeoperationalcosts.Itisimportanttonotethat:
Thereisandwillbenoone-size-fits-allapproach,andtherearenoapproachesthatarebetterthanothers.Anapproachoracollectionofapproachesshouldbealignedwiththeoveralldifferentdatagovernance,service-level,andbudgetaryrequirements.
ITorganizationsshouldfocusonanoverallreductionindatacenterinfrastructurecapexspend,
aproportionalincreaseinopexspend,andanoverallreductioninstorageinfrastructurespend.
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Inaddition,ITorganizationsshouldensurethattheirhybridcloudstorageapproachaddressesthe
followingfactors:
Virtualization density and how data is accessed by virtual machines in the datacenter: Hybridcloudstoragehastofacilitatetheconnectionand/orportabilitybetweenthetwolocationsso
thatthevirtualinstancescanseamlesslycoexistinbothlocations. Data growth and hybrid cloud:Enduserswillassumethatthedatagrowthwillbeabsorbedby
thecloudproviderandnotintheon-premisesdatacenter.ITorganizationshavetoeducatetheirusersondatalocality.
Big Data and eDiscovery:ITneedstoensurethatthenecessarydataisuploadedintothecloudandcanbeeasilyaccessedwhennecessaryforadherencetogovernance,risk,andcompliancepolicies.
APPENDIX
Customer Case Studies
Walbridge Construction
WalbridgeisalargeconstructioncompanybasedinMichigan.Typicalprojectsundertakenby
Walbridgeincludeconstructionofairports,manufacturingplants,andlargeconcretestructuressuchas
bridgesandparkinglots.ThenatureofWalbridge'sbusinessmeansthatthecompany'semployees
oftengenerateandworkwithalargenumberofdrawingsandfiles.IDCrecentlyspokewithCynthia
Weaver,AVPofITatWalbridge.WeavermanagesaleanITorganizationof23employeeswhowear
multiplehats.Theyareresponsibleforrunning/maintainingtheITinfrastructureatheadquartersand
branchoffices,managingmobiledevices,maintainingunifiedcommunicationsequipment,evaluating
newproductsandtechnologies,and,asnecessary,doingdevelopmentwork.
Walbridge'squestforahybridcloudsolutionstartedwithasuddensurgeintheamountofdatathe
company'sITteamhadtomanage.Datawentfrom20%year-over-yeargrowthtoover100%yearover
yearinaspanoftwoyears.OneofthereasonsforthissurgewastherapidgrowthinWalbridge's
business,butmorecrucially,itwasbecauseofhowemployeesfromvariousgroups — likemarketing,
businessdevelopment,estimating,andoperations — collaboratedonprojects.Eachgroupwantsto"own"
itsfiles,whichcausedover50%duplicationintheenvironment.Multipleversionsoffilesmeant
additionaloperationaloverhead.Suddenly,theteamfounditselfnotonlygrapplingwiththecostof
buyingnewstorageequipmentbutalsohavingtodealwithupgradesofadjunct(butcritical)
infrastructurelikedataprotection.Thesecostsaddedmorethan$100,000toanalreadystretched
budget.Weavercharteredherteamwithexaminingwaystocutcostsbutmoreimportantlytoexplore
waystochangethemodel.Theteamnotedthatintroducingcloudintotheenvironment,without
completingeliminatingtheinfrastructure,wasagoodfirststep.ThisquestledtheITteamtothe
StorSimplesolution.StorSimpleallowedWalbridge'svirtualenvironmenttoaccessacloud-enabled
block-basedstoragearraythatprovidedallofthestorageefficiencyfeaturesandpushedinactivedata
intothecloud.Withthismodel,WalbridgeITwasabletoreduceitsdatacenterfootprint,andthe
companyhasnothadtopurchaseanyadditionalequipmentforover2.5years.Today,Walbridge's
hybridcloudinfrastructurehasover8TBofdeduplicateddata.AllofthedataconnectedtotheStorSimple
solutionisprotectedviacloud-basedsnapshots,requiringnoadditionaldataprotectionon-premises.
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ThismodelallowedWalbridgetomaintainitscurrentinfrastructure,includingitsdataprotection
environment.Italsoallowedthecompanytomaintainafilesharingsolutionforuserhomedirectories,
networkshares,andcollaborationsoftware(Prologue) — whichallowsemployeesandcontractorsto
shareproject-specificdocumentswithoneanother.Emboldenedbythesuccessofthismodel,
WalbridgealsoadoptedOffice365,Microsoft'scloudsolutionforemail,calendar,mobileandend-user
collaboration.Today,ithas11TBinSharePointcloudand5TBinExchangecloud.Itcurrently
manages850accountsbutcanscaleto10,000users.TheOffice365solutionallowedWalbridgeITtoreduceitsfootprintbyremovingP2Pserversatconstructionsites(60differentlocations).Instead,all
fileservicesarenowofferedviatheSharePointjobsite.Withthehybridcloudstoragemodel,
WalbridgeITcannowmaintaintotalcontrolofitsenvironmentanddosoinanefficientmanner.
Operationalefficienciesarepassedontoitsusers.ThismodelhasallowedWalbridgetoimprove
servicelevelsandkeeptabsonitsdataconsumption,whichcontinuestogrow.Insteadof"micro-
managing"theinfrastructure,WalbridgeITcannowfocusontrackingservicequality.
MulvannyG2 Architecture
MulvannyG2Architectureisthethird-largestretailarchitectintheworldandamongthe50largest
architecturefirmsworldwide.Itdesignsretail,office,mixed-use,andhospitalityfacilitiesforglobalclients,includingfiveof2012'stop20Fortune500retailers.MulvannyG2hasover330employees
atofficesinWashington;Oregon;California;Washington,D.C.;andChina.IDCrecentlyspokewith
JohnCuocci,ITDirectoratMulvannyG2Architecture.
Likemanyarchitecturefirms,MulvannyG2wasgrapplingwithlotsofpaper-basedIPsuchasdrawings
andblueprints.Withover42yearsinbusiness,MulvannyG2reliedonaleadingoffsiterecordsstorage
companyforhandlinghundredsofmillionsofpagesofarchitecturaldrawingsandrelatedproject
documents,whichcostitmorethan$50,000annually.Inadditiontobeingexpensive,offsitepaper
storageintroduceddelaysincriticalbusinessfunctions.Whenanemployeeneededanarchived
document,heorshesearchedtheonlineindexingsystembyjobnumberandotheridentifying
characteristicsandplacedarequest — whichtookdaysforprocessing.
MulvannyG2purchasedtheStorSimplesolutionandsetitupthedayitarrivedwithnoproblems.To
solvetheproblemofindexingthedatastoredinWindowsAzure,MulvannyG2turnedtoNewforma
ProjectCenter,asoftwareprogramthathelpsorganizationsindexandmanageprojectinformation.
MulvannyG2employeesuseNewformatoindexalloftheirarchiveddocumentsandstoretheindexed
dataonStorSimple.Whenemployeeswanttoaccessanarchiveddocument,theysimplyenterthe
relatedjobnumberandothersearchcriteria;digitaldocumentsarereturnedinminutes.
BydeployingthehybridcloudstoragesolutionofStorSimpleandWindowsAzure,MulvannyG2
Architecturerealizedthefollowingbenefits:
Avoidspending$140,000onexpensiveSANstorage.TheStorSimplehybridcloudsolutionhelpedMulvannyG2avoidthesignificantexpenseofinvestinginanotherSAN.
Save$50,000ayearonoffsitestoragefees.Whenallofitsdocumentsaredigitized,MulvannyG2willalsorealizeanannualsavingsofmorethan$50,000forthird-partyarchivalfees.
ExtendthelifeofexistingSAN.Inaddition,CuocciestimatesthatthefirmwillextendthelifeofitsexistingSANbyatleasttwoyearsbynotusingitforarchivestorage.
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Gainendlessstoragescalabilitywithoutaddingadditionalrackspaceinthedatacenter.
Achievebetterdisasterrecovery.WhenMulvannyG2usestheStorSimplesolutionfordisasterrecovery,itwillgaingeographicallydistinctdataprotectionandnolongerworryaboutphysicalbackups.
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