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Company leaders managing data workloads on a finite budget look to IBM Storwize, a family of all-flash storage solutions focused on managing block data needed for primary storage workloads that require strong availability, performance, redundancy and enterprise-class data services.

“As our clients transform their data center infrastructures to meet new demands, keeping storage costs down and application availability up are as important today as they ever have been,” said Ed Walsh, General Manager, IBM Storage and Software-Defined Infrastructure. “That’s why IBM is investing in our all-flash Storwize systems, VersaStack converged infrastructure solutions, and IBM Spectrum Storage software. The enhancements we are announcing today for Storwize and VersaStack deliver extraordinary data efficiency and availability also backed by IBM guarantees. Coupled with new cloud software capability, they lead the way for our clients to build their data-driven multi-cloud solutions for greater business advantage.”

Sophisticated functionality is an important driver of the popularity of Storwize, making it easy to manage and flexible to use with all-flash performance for today’s applications, workloads and use cases. Pre-loaded with IBM Spectrum Virtualize software, Storwize is agile enough to work across both IBM and non-IBM storage systems, delivering comprehensive enterprise-class data services for over 440 different storage arrays.

Improvements to OPEX and CAPEX

Today’s powerful Storwize family gets even better with the addition of new data deduplication capability. When combined with existing data reduction functions, over a three-year period you can reduce storage management and OPEX costs by over $2.8 million and CAPEX costs by as much as $600,000[1]. Perhaps more significant is that clients can implement these functions with confidence since they are backed by three different IBM client satisfaction programs:

• Data Reduction Guarantee: Offers up to 5:1 data reduction[2];
• Controller Upgrade Program: Providing the option to upgrade controllers after 3 years for only the cost of ongoing hardware and software maintenance[3];
• Availability Guarantee: Offers 100 percent data availability protection[4] for systems using IBM HyperSwap and deployed by IBM Lab Services[5].

The themes of cost and long-term planning feed into another key aspect of today’s announcement – IBM Storage Insights, an AI and cloud-based platform developed specifically to provide a clear view of the user’s block storage, becomes available to all users today.

With customized trends laid out on a single dashboard, users can now better understand how their storage is working for them. Storage Insights enables users to get a fast view of storage capacity and performance, can help identify configurations that do not conform to IBM best practices, and can make tiering recommendations to help cut storage cost.

Rusty Sparks, Manager, Systems Administration Group, North Mississippi Medical Center said,

“… we’ll be able to put some 150 TB of data on lower-tier storage instead of the more expensive all-flash resources—saving us close to $400,000. That’s huge cost avoidance, that we might never have discovered without Storage Insights.”

Storage Insights also includes tools to help improve the user experience when working with IBM support, including the ability to open and view support tickets, automated upload of diagnostic data, and detailed configuration and performance data available to help IBM specialists resolve problems quickly.

The ongoing pursuit to support clients through continual reduction of the costs of IT spending is noted by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) Principal Analyst and Practice Director Mark Peters.

“In IT, relationships between the vendor and the user are frequently at least as important as, if not more so than, the specific attributes and benefits of a particular technology or solution. Frequently an IT purchase is really a long-term relationship investment decision with the provider – represented through years of design, deployment, support, maintenance, advice, and eventual refresh. Getting that relationship right, and keeping it strong, is key to achieving optimal success for both an enterprise as well as its solution provider.”

Virtualize – realize – economize

IBM Spectrum Virtualize, part of IBM’s market-leading suite of IBM Spectrum Storage software-defined storage solutions, has helped to improve infrastructure flexibility and user data economics for nearly 15 years. It’s at the heart of the IBM Storwize family, SVC, FlashSystem V9000, and most of IBM’s VersaStack solutions.

IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud brings the power of IBM Spectrum Virtualize to IBM Cloud. Its latest release, announced today, delivers a 2X improvement in scale (from a maximum of four to eight nodes). This enhancement brings parity between on-premises and cloud versions of the software, making it easier to use lower-cost cloud data centers as a target for disaster recovery (DR).

IBM Storwize and VersaStack systems with IBM Cloud Private on premises provide the ideal complement to IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud running on IBM Cloud. By providing a consistent software environment on premises and in the cloud, they help simplify management, ease workload mobility and speed deployment of disaster recovery solutions.

“Increasingly, our clients are turning to all-flash and multi-cloud solutions as they transform their infrastructures to meet the demands of data-driven businesses,” said Erik Cline, Vice President, ConvergeOne. “Award-winning all-flash IBM Storwize systems working together with IBM Spectrum Storage software are the enterprise class answer for building modern infrastructures and the foundation for leveraging multi-cloud storage for greater business agility.”

With today’s announcement, enterprises of all types can enjoy their data-driven multi-cloud environments very cost effectively and with confidence. IBM’s powerful Storwize family, IBM Spectrum Storage software and the peace of mind initiative help you get the most value from your oceans of data – critical as you drive to optimize your business for the modern era.

For complete information about the today’s IBM Storage announcements, see our blog posts:

• Data reduction and “peace of mind” guarantees
• IBM Storage Insights
• IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud

[1] Based on IBM estimates. All-flash Storwize V7000F; approx. 700TB usable configuration; 7.68TB flash drives; 4:1 data reduction; all software functions included; typical discount applied.

[2] The Data Reduction Guarantee requires a contract specifying the terms and limitations of the guarantee. Savings rates greater than 50% or including already compressed or encrypted data require workload analysis using IBM tools. In the unlikely event that you don’t get the guaranteed compression savings, IBM will provide the hardware and authorizations subject to contract terms to match the savings and performance at no charge. Contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner for complete details.

[3] The option to initiate this upgrade guarantee must occur within the final 90 days of the initial 3-year warranty and expires at the end of the 3-year warranty. IBM will replace (with trade-in) controllers on eligible all-flash arrays purchased between 3/31/2017 and 3/31/2019 with equivalent next-generation controllers including NVMe if available. The price will not exceed the published list price of 3 years hardware maintenance and 3 years software maintenance on the associated hardware control enclosure at that time. See program agreement for complete details.

[4] Interruption to data availability does not include any interruptions due to a temporary I/O hold during a planned or unplanned HyperSwap. In the event a customer doesn’t achieve zero interruption to data availability and subject to the terms of the associated guarantee agreement, IBM provides up to 40 hours of IBM Systems Lab Services consultation and support at no charge. The guarantee period ends upon the sooner of the following two occurrences: (i) customer submits a claim and obtains the above-mentioned 40 hours of consultation and support; or (ii) the expiration of the initial three year hardware warranty on the eligible machine.

[5] Customer will execute a contract for the IBM Systems Lab Services implementation of IBM HyperSwap; terms and conditions (including pricing) set forth therein.

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