Engagement Options

Strategic Storage Architecture Development

Burton Group’s research from the experience of many clients globally indicates that the cost disparity between direct-attached storage (DAS) and a shared enterprise storage area network (SAN) is widening quickly as storage capacity growth accelerates. More significantly, Burton Group has found that migration from DAS to a SAN architecture can actually extend the useful life and capacities of application servers. Many users have found that when DAS I/O processing is largely shifted to an external SAN, the applications server has more resources available to run the applications, which is the use for which the asset was originally acquired.

Burton Group’s Strategic Storage Architecture Development and Optimization helps organizations to modernize their storage architecture leveraging new virtual technologies and advanced protocols. The approach starts with profiling the current business and technical requirements, constraints, and assumptions including accurately estimate the growth and manageability of storage environments. In the context of the current environment and industry best practices, Burton Group develops the end state target architecture based on it storage reference architecture. The reference architecture details the following components:

• Storage virtualization
• Storage protocols

This approach ensures that the organizations rapidly review and analyze feasible scenarios with their advantages and disadvantages to agree upon the right target architecture. Once the ideal storage virtualization scenarios have been identified, Burton Group works with the client to build a practical migration plan based on all identified technical and operational risks including storage area network (SAN) incompatibility.

Approach

We accomplish this assessment by working collaboratively with your server architecture team. After project kick-off, we will electronically survey up to 10 key stakeholders drawn from cross-functional groups including IT, Security, Architecture, Data Center, Network Operations Centers, and other Line of Business executives concerned with storage architecture. We also review the relevant storage architecture documents maintained by your organization in order to get a quick yet thorough understanding of your storage deployment strategy.

After receiving the completed surveys and reviewing your documentation, Burton Group consultants will review the survey responses with your team and correlate this information with your documented storage deployment strategy. Following the on-site meeting, Burton Group will provide you with a written baseline environment and requirement analysis report. Following the development of the target architecture including principles, technical positions, and templates, Burton Group will provide you with a target architecture report. Finally, Burton Group will conduct a detailed gap analysis and submit a final report which outlines a series of tactical and strategic recommendations, organized in a roadmap, to migrate to the target architecture with minimum impact on business users. As would be expected, Burton Group’s recommendations are based on industry best practices, technological capabilities, your organization's unique requirements, and other specific findings of the assessment.

Duration

The duration of the engagement is typically between 6-12 weeks.

To start this engagement, please contact Homan Farahmand at 905.952.0966.