Change is daunting. Organizations might realize they need a data center infrastructure makeover, but the process can seem overwhelming. How do you pick the “right” solution with the least disruption? Customer viewpoints offer critical insight when evaluating new data center systems.
Data challenges are as plentiful as their opportunities. If you’re in the position of most companies, you’re likely contending with data that is exploding faster than you can manage, while trying to determine how to extract real-time insights. And, for many who face similar challenges, they quickly realize their infrastructure just can’t keep up with the data demands and business expectations.
Yet, we all know, change is daunting. Organizations might realize they need an infrastructure makeover, but the process can seem overwhelming. How do you pick the “right” solution with the least disruption?
How do you find a solution that delivers the data fluidity required to enable breakthroughs in new business frontiers while driving commercial success? Will the choice become a career-advancing or career-limiting move?
It’s easy enough to simply ask yourself, “Who are the top players?” and begin your search by evaluating that list. Although, the “Big 5” might have brand recognition, it doesn’t necessarily mean their solutions might be the right fit for your needs.
However, this doesn’t mean your search can’t start with a “top 5 list”. But instead of the “big 5 vendors”, consider the “big 5 questions” you should ask to make sure that you are evaluating the companies and solutions that are right for you:
Top 5 Questions to Ask When Evaluating New Data Infrastructure
- How quickly do I need to deploy this solution?
Your timeline may guide you towards a vendor who prioritizes your business to ensure your project is successful as soon as possible.
- How important is integration with other solutions?
Short-term and long-term integration with other applications is a critical consideration. It’s not only what your organization does today, but its vision and roadmap for integrating with future technology.
- How important is service and support to our organization?
This may determine if you are seeking a vendor who is more of a partner who works hand-in-hand with you through the life of your solution or if you prefer a vendor that simply provides the tools for your team to execute.
- What does success look like for our organization?
Defining success before seeking a vendor is imperative to ensuring everyone is aligned in delivering a solution that is tailored to your needs.
- What has been my industry peers’ experience?
Instead of recreating the wheel by yourself, learn from the experiences of peers in-house and at the competition about their success in both primary and secondary solutions.
Learn from the Experience of Your Peers
Your peers have lived it. They have been in the trenches. They have experienced the good, bad and ugly of vetting, deploying and managing infrastructure changes. If they could do it all over again, they know exactly what they would do differently – or maybe not do differently. Leverage their experiences to your advantage by seeking unbiased feedback from companies who share similarities in size and/or industry can be exactly what is needed to “gut-check” the answers to the “big 5 questions,” while also opening your eyes to alternatives with which you may be less or not at all familiar.
Sure, this might seem like a lot of work; but, there are resource available to help you on this journey.
How to Leverage Peer Insights
One such resource is the Gartner Peer Insight report. It compiles feedback from customers of various solutions from the marketplace vendors. Unlike the Magic Quadrant and Critical Capabilities reports, which reflect the analysis and opinions of Gartner analysts, Peer Insights are just that, feedback from customers who use these solutions every day.
We’re pleased to make both the Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customer’: Solid-State Arrays and Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customer’: Distributed File Systems and Object Storage available to you. As you read them, you’ll probably confirm some of your existing knowledge, but more importantly, you might learn something new that will help you more effectively evaluate the solutions you ultimately choose to fit your data storage needs. You might just find the answers to your “big 5 questions”.
Make Your Next Purchasing Decision the “Right” One
We are always happy to see our customers sharing their experience with Western Digital Data Center Systems and are even more thrilled to be able to transform their businesses with tailored data solutions offering exceptional performance, scale, and TCO.
Whether you are considering a new Solid-State Array or Object Storage solution, or just exploring your options, we invite you to take a closer look at what your peers are saying about IntelliFlash™ and ActiveScale™. Don’t take our word for it, take theirs! I believe you’ll quickly see how we walk hand-in-hand with our customers to create, integrate, deploy, and support a solution that is right for their needs.
Western Digital, your Trusted Partner in Transformation.
Learn More
- Western Digital Data Center Systems
- Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customer’: Solid-State Arrays
- Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customer’: Distributed File Systems and Object Storage
