Selecting a storage services vendor
Summary
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Over the past few months, many C-level executives Hurwitz Group has spoken with said they are starting to think about investing in storage consultants to help them deal with interoperability issues, storage assessments, and improved manageability of their storage architectures.
Among the vendors that now offer objective and vendor-centric storage services are Glasshouse Technologies, iMation, IBM Global Services, CNT, Accenture, EMC, Veritas, Computer Associates, BMC Software, and Hewlett-Packard. Hurwitz Group offers the following advice to executives who are looking for storage services:
- Have a plan. IT executives should recognize when they need help with storage projects and create a short list of vendors.
- Research providers. Storage services are available from many different companies. Understand which projects require consulting services and identify the service groups that best match up with project requirements and experience.
- Negotiate price points. Storage services form a growing market with pure-play, hardware, and software vendors and VARs getting into the game. In today's tactical environment, pricing can be negotiated.
- Get the senior team. Many large storage-consulting groups send in senior consultants to close a deal and then use junior consultants to do the work. Get in writing that specific people will be on your job.
- Interview vendors and customer references. Decision makers should identify the core competency of storage service providers (backup and recovery, storage strategy, storage resource management, assessments, and so on) and ask for customer references and analyst reviews.
- Build a relationship. Before making the purchase decision, create a road map with time lines for the project. Build in post-project meetings and follow through to assess future storage-related projects and the success of the previous project.
- Examine objectivity. Some firms have checked for objectivity, but many haven't. Once a project is identified that requires storage consultants, match the need for objectivity to the project.
Users should recognize when they need help with storage and where to turn to for that help. They can now choose from an increasing number of vendors with varying price points, resources, and levels of expertise. Conducting research that eliminates storage consulting shops also reduces the risk associated with working with consultants and increases return on investment (ROI).
Did you use a consultant to solve your storage woes, or did you go it alone? TalkBack or send e-mail to us.
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