Features - Storage Innovations:

DIMENSION DATA LAUNCHES SERVER AND STORAGE ASSESMENT SERVICE

Dimension Data Holdings, a global technology company, announced it launched a proprietary server and storage assessment service to help clients manage infrastructure consolidation and reap significant cost savings. The offering also provides clients with a detailed analysis of the estimated cost savings that can be derived from storage and server consolidation. Dimension Data's Server Storage Surveyor assesses a company's entire storage and server infrastructure, identifies underutilized assets, and assists in the development of corporate storage policies and standards.

"By implementing the recommendations put forth by the Server Storage Surveyor, our clients can potentially see a 20 to 40% cost reduction within one year -- and that does not include soft costs," said Marc Duvoisin, Dimension Data's national practice director for Enterprise Server Storage.

Organizations today are facing budget, infrastructure and administrative pressures from all sides. Many of the investments and infrastructure upgrades made in preparation for Y2K left companies with an excess of servers and software, and subsequent belt-tightening eliminated the personnel necessary to manage this extensive infrastructure. Today, against a backdrop of restrained IT spending, savvy IT decision-makers are reaping advantages and cost savings from consolidation and regaining control over spiraling information and infrastructure growth as well as under-utilized storage and server assets.

Dimension Data's Server Storage Surveyor addresses the full spectrum of consolidation benefits and uncovers potential challenges before they arise. This server and storage assessment service provides clients with an inventory and analysis of their current environment -- servers, storage, and applications -- and outlines key business stakeholders' current IT needs. The service then offers a step-by-step list of recommendations, prioritized action items and a list of potential savings from the following: consolidation of hardware and software, elimination of unnecessary software licenses, and reduced maintenance costs.

Already, a large financial services company utilized Dimension Data's Server Storage Surveyor and uncovered a potential savings of $6 million over three years. For this client, Dimension Data conducted a consolidation assessment of servers in the Windows, Novell, and Unix environment and also evaluated the company's storage capacity and needs. After examining the client's current infrastructure, Dimension Data recommended a consolidated architecture based on application and technology compatibility as well as the customer's financial profile.

"While data retrieval tools provide concrete information as to utilization, Dimension Data recognizes that a successful assessment must address the human component as well," said Duvoisin. "By including interviews with key client personnel as part of our Server Storage Surveyor process, Dimension Data can better understand the demographics and topology of the environment and also assess the impact of corporate strategy, financial factors, and technical direction on consolidation efforts. The optimal technological solution can only be implemented with full knowledge of a client's overall business objectives."