quantifying the value of nasuni enterprise file services · phases: value scoping, validation,...

©2017byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.

ByAvivKaufmannandKerryDolan,SeniorESGLabAnalystsJanuary2017ThisESGEconomicValueValidationReportwascommissionedbyNasuniandisdistributedunderlicensefromESG.

EnterpriseStrategyGroup|Gettingtothebiggertruth.™

ESGEconomicValueValidation

QuantifyingtheValueofNasuniEnterpriseFileServices

EVVReport:QuantifyingtheValueofNasuniEnterpriseFileServices 2


Contents

ExecutiveSummary................................................................................................................................................................3

Challenges..............................................................................................................................................................................3

TheSolution:NasuniEnterpriseFileServices........................................................................................................................4

EconomicValueValidation(EVV)Process..............................................................................................................................6

EconomicValueOverview......................................................................................................................................................7

SavingsoverTraditionalStorage........................................................................................................................................7

OperationalSavings............................................................................................................................................................8

EconomicBenefitsfromImprovedEnd-userProductivity.................................................................................................9

EconomicModelling.............................................................................................................................................................10

ESG’sNasuniEnterpriseFileServicesEconomicValueModel.........................................................................................10

Example:UsingtheEVMtoPredictSavingsforaModeledOrganization........................................................................10

NasuniSubscriptionversusTraditionalStorageTCOSavings..........................................................................................12

OperationalSavings..........................................................................................................................................................13

EconomicBenefitsofImprovedEnd-userProductivity....................................................................................................13

KeyMetricsCalculatedfromModeledAnalysis...............................................................................................................14

AdditionalModeledScenarios.....................................................................................................................................15

Net-newversusPhasedDeployment...........................................................................................................................15

TheBiggerTruth...................................................................................................................................................................15



ExecutiveSummary

ESGwasengagedbyNasunitoconductadetailedEconomicValueValidation(EVV)anddevelopaquantitativemodelthatcanbeusedtoassesshowNasuni’sEnterpriseFileServicesbetterstoreandmanageunstructureddataoverathree-yearperiod.TheanalysisisdesignedtohelpITorganizationsdeterminethefullyburdenedcostsandbenefitsofNasunicomparedwitha“presentmodeofoperation”(PMO)thatreflectshoworganizationstypicallymanagetheirunstructureddatatoday.

ThemodelandtheanalysisshowNasuniofferstheopportunityfororganizationstosignificantlylowercostsandimproveefficiencyandproductivity.ESG’sanalysisofamodeledusecaseforatypical250TBNasunideploymentresultedin$3.1Minsavingsandbenefits,a60%savingsovertraditionalNASdeploymentsoverthreeyears.NasunienablesanorganizationtodramaticallyreduceupfrontCapExcostsinfavorofpredictableOpExspendingspreadoutovertime.Otherbenefitsrelatedtomanagement,scalability,andproductivityalsoaddtothebottomline.

ESG’sthoroughanalysisshowsthatorganizationsseekingtospendlessonstoringandprotectingtheirgrowingvolumesofunstructureddatawhilemakingbetterandmoreefficientuseofitwoulddowelltoconsiderNasuniEnterpriseFileServices.

Challenges

Unstructureddatavolumescontinuetogroweveryyear.Organizationscreateandretaindocuments,aswellasaudio,video,andimagefilesastheystrivetoimprovebusinessagility,workermobility,andregulatorycompliance.Traditionalstoragesiloscanmakeitdifficulttodeliverfiledatatotherightlocationsanddeviceswiththeperformanceexpectedtoday.Inaddition,infrastructuresilosforbackup,archiving,anddisasterrecoverymustbedeployedandmanaged,addingtotheburden.

Managingallthisdataandtheinfrastructuretosupportitcanbecomplexandexpensive,withcostsrisingasdatavolumesgrow.And,despitemuchimprovementineconomicconditionsoverthepastfewyears,reducingcostsremainsaperennialbusinessobjective.InESG’s2016ITSpendingIntentionsSurvey,reducingcostswasthesecondmost-citedbusinessinitiativedrivingtechnologyspending,secondonlytocybersecurity.1Whenaskedwhatstrategiestheyusedtoreducecosts,respondentscitedtheincreaseduseofcloudcomputingservicesmorethananyother(seeFigure1).2

1Source:ESGResearchReport,2016ITSpendingIntentionsSurvey,February2016.2ibid.

NasuniModeledScenarioHighlightsofESGEconomicValueValidation:

• 73%RelativeSavingsandBenefitsoverTraditionalNAS

• $3.1MinExpectedSavingsandBenefitsoverThreeYears

• 77%MoreProductiveEmployees• $4.54LowerCost/GB• 183FewerAdminHours/Week• ShiftStorageCostsfromCapExto

OpEx



TheSolution:NasuniEnterpriseFileServices

Nasunioffersanintegratednetwork-attachedstorage(NAS)servicetostoreandsynchronizefilesacrossmultiplegeographiclocations.Nasunicombinescloudserviceswithhigh-performancehardwareappliancestomeetthedemandsofunstructureddataintheenterprise.Itprovidesastable,scalablefilesystemthatcanbegloballydistributed.Nasuniincreasesanorganization’soperationalefficiencybystreamliningtheinfrastructurerequiredtomanageunstructureddataatscaleandacrossgeographies.Itgivesanorganizationcompletecontroloffilesregardlessofgeographiclocation,workloadrequirements,ormobiledevicetype.

Thesolutionuseson-premisesNasuniEdgeAppliancesthatareback-endedbypubliccloudstorageproviderssuchasAWSandMicrosoftAzure.Nasuniprovidesinstantaccesstodatafromanylocation.Stringentaccesscontrolsandsecurityenablealllocationstohaveread-writeaccesswhereenabled,sodistributedteamscanworkfromthesameshareddataset.Changesmadeatonelocationquicklyappearatothers.Datasecurity,automaticbackup,andoffsitereplicationarebuiltin,andthecloudprovidesunlimitedscalabilitytohandledatagrowth.Nasunioffersaservicelevelagreementbasedonitsabilitytotreatthecloudasacomponentofitssystem.Thecompanycontinuouslymonitorsthesystemandcloudstorageprovidersandcanproactivelyaddressissuesthatarise.Customerspurchasethehardware(oruseincludedVirtualEdgeappliances)andpayforservicesmonthly,withNasuniconsolidatingthebillingfrompubliccloudproviders.

Figure2providesanarchitecturaloverviewofaNasunideployment.OntheleftaretheNasuniFiler,syncandshare,andmobileapplicationsthatprovideaccesstothegloballysharedpoolofdatavolumes.Dataispresentedtouserswith

Figure1.ITCostReduction/ContainmentStrategies

Source:EnterpriseStrategyGroup,2017



industry-standardprotocols3thatsupportbothNASandSANworkloads.ThisisdifferentfromothercloudsolutionsthatextendtheironsitefilesystemstothecloudandconnecttotheirdatausingAPIs.Datavolumesarestoredinthecloud-basedUniFSfilesystem,alongwithredundantcopiesofeachfilewithitsversionhistory.Administratorscancentrallymanagetheentiredeployment(regardlessofthenumberoflocations)withtheNasuniManagementConsole.IndividualFilerscanalsobemanagedusingarole-basedindividualconsole,andthe24x7NasuniNetworkOperationsCenterprovidesmonitoring,management,andproactivesupport.

Nasunibenefitsinclude:

• Multi-siteaccess.TheNasuniarchitectureallowsmultipleEdgeappliancesatmultiplelocationstoaccessthesamelivevolume.AgolddatacopywithasingleversionhistoryisstoredinthecloudandcanbesharedbyanyNasuniEdgeappliance.EachEdgeapplianceaccessesthesamesingleversionstreamandcanrollbacktoanypointintime,regardlessofwherethedatawascreated.Allversionsaresavedasindividual,unchangeableunitsthatremainavailableandnavigableforrollback,andalllocationsgetlocalstorageperformanceandimmediateaccess.

• Centralizedcontrol.TheNasuniManagementConsoleprovidesasinglepaneofglassforITadministratorstomanagetheirgloballydistributeddeployments,includingappliancemanagement,volumemanagement,andsystemmonitoring.

• Security.Dataisencryptedon-premiseswithAES-256encryptionandremainsencryptedintransitandatrestinthecloud.Thismilitary-gradeencryptionisthehighestlevelofsecurityavailable,andensuresthatdataisaccessibleandreadableonlybythosewithaccessprivileges.Keycreationandmanagementresidewiththeend-user,soneitherNasuninorthecloudprovidercanviewdata.

3NasunisupportstheCIFS/SMB,NFS,FTP/SFTP,iSCSI,andHTTPSprotocols.

Figure2.NasuniEnterpriseFileServices




• Infinitescalability.Nasuniprovidestruecapacityondemandandunlimitedscalability.Whenusersrequestadditionalstorage,Nasunisimplyupgradesthelicenseandmorecapacityisimmediatelyavailable.Thisenablesorganizationstogroworganicallyinstepwithbusinessneeds,keepingbudgetsontrackandeliminatingcostlyupfrontprovisioning.

• Dataprotection.DataprotectionisautomaticandbuiltintotheNasuniservice.TheNasuniEdgeappliancesendscontinuousversionstothecloud,eliminatingtheneedforadditionaldataprotectionstacks.Nobackuporreplicationsoftwareisneeded,noduplicateserversorstorageneedtobepurchasedandmanaged,andnosecondarycorporatelocationsarerequired.File-levelrestoresareinstantaneousandcanbedonewithsimplenavigation.Alldataisprotectedinthecloud,whereitisautomaticallyreplicatedwiththreecopiesinatleasttwogeographicallyredundantlocations.Fordisasterrecovery,completeaccesstoallfilescanberestoredwithin15minutes,whichisthetimeittakestodownloadavirtualappliance,configureaccess,andprovidethelicenseandencryptionkeys.

• Desktopandmobilefilesynchronization.UserscanenableafolderontheirdesktopsforlocalfilesthatwillbenotonlybesyncedbacktotheNasuniservice,butalsoavailabletothatuser’slaptopandiOS/Androidmobiledevices.

• GlobalFileLocking.Nasuni’sGlobalFileLockingisincorporatedintothecloud-basedservice,eliminatingthefailuresandbottlenecksthatlocalhardwarecontrollerscanexperiencewhenrunninglocking.Itwasdesignedtosimplifyandspeedcollaborationonfilesamongdistributedlocations.

• Easeofdeployment.NasuniEdgeapplianceinstallationandvolumecreationaresimpletasks.SharescanbeconnectedtoclientsatotherlocationsthroughtheNasuniManagementConsole.

• Servicelevelagreement.NasunioffersthemoststringentSLAsintheindustry,including100%availability,accessibility,security,andimmutabilityofdata.ItsguaranteeincludespenaltiesshouldNasunifailtodeliver.

EconomicValueValidation(EVV)Process

ESG’sEconomicValueValidationprocessisaprovenmethodforunderstanding,validating,quantifying,andmodelingtheeconomicvaluepropositionsofaproductorsolution.TheprocessleveragesESG’scorecompetenciesinmarketandindustryanalysis,forward-lookingresearch,andtechnical/economicvalidation.TheEVVprocessconsistsoffourmainphases:valuescoping,validation,quantification,andmodeldevelopment.

Inthevaluescopingphase,ESGworkswithavendor’sinternalstakeholderstodiscussthewaysinwhichtheproductorsolutioncanimpactpotentialcustomers.Theseeconomicbenefitsmaybeintheformofcostssavings(e.g.,lowerCapExorOpEx),costavoidance(e.g.,reducingcomplianceriskoreliminatingtheneedforprofessionalservices),increasedrevenue(e.g.,fastertaskcompletionortheabilitytohandlemoredesktops),andothersoftbenefits(e.g.,increaseduserproductivityorhighercustomersatisfaction).Inthevaluevalidationphase,ESGconductsin-depthinterviewswithend-userstobetterunderstandandquantifyhowthesepotentialvaluepropositionshaveimpactedtheirorganizations,particularlyincomparisonwithpreviouslydeployedand/orexperiencedsolutions.

Inthefinalstages,ESGblendsthequantifiedvaluesrevealedthroughthestakeholderandcustomerinterviewswithknownindustryvaluesandadditionalresearch,resultinginavalidatedsetofassumptionsonwhichtobuildascalableanddynamicTCO/ROImodel.ThisEconomicValueModel(EVM)acceptsasinputstheanswerstotypicalqualifyingquestionsregardingapotentialcustomer’sITenvironmentandbusinessneeds.Themodelthenreturnsadetailedreportofexpectedsavings,TCO,andROIoveragiventimeperiod,ascomparedwitharelevant,definedpresentmodeofoperation.AnoverviewoftheESGEconomicValueValidationprocessisshowninFigure3.



EconomicValueOverview

ESGvalidatedNasuniEnterpriseFileServices’economicvaluepropositionsthroughcustomerinquiryandinterviews,aswellasauditsofcustomercasestudies.Theseorganizationscoveredarangeofindustriesincludingarchitectural,engineering,manufacturing,legal,healthcare,andeducationfirms.DeploymentsrangedfromseveralTBtomultiplepetabytes,manywithfiledatadistributedacrosshundredsofgloballocationsandtheneedformulti-siteaccess,filesynchronization,andstrictregulatorycompliance.

ThesecustomersrevealedhowNasuniEnterpriseFileServiceshadhelpedthemreducestorage-relatedTCOinnumerousways,includingthefollowing.

SavingsoverTraditionalStorageþ Significantlylowerhardwareandsoftwareacquisitioncosts,includingonsitestoragearrays,backupdevicesand

media,andlicensesfordataprotection,deduplication,replication.þ Lowermaintenanceandsupportcostsbasedonreducedhardware.þ Lowerinfrastructurecosts;lesshardwaremeanslesspower,cooling,andfloorspace,plusreducedneedfordata

protection,add-onstorageforgrowth,orserverstorunsoftware.þ Lowercostsofstaffingandprofessionalservicesduetosimpler,centralized,self-serviceadministration.

OnechallengeNasuniaddressedforthesecustomerswastheever-growingvolumeoffiledata,andtheunrelentingcostofstoringandprotectingthatdata.Organizationsmentioned:

“Wecanreducetheamountofhardware—storageattheedge,andfileserversprawl—andwecangetridofthirdpartyoffsitetapeproviders.”

“Wedon’tneedtobuyexcesscapacityforfuturegrowth—instead,wescaleondemandandonlypayforthestorageweuse.”

Figure3.ESGEVVMethodology




“Isitreallysmartforustoputcapitaloutlaytowardstoragetechnologieswhenourconsumptionjustkeepsgrowing?Spend$1Monnewgear,andwhenthatgoesendoflife,spendanother$1M.OurinitialinvestmentwithNasuniwas100TB—butthateliminatedtheneedfora$1.2Mcapacityupgrade.”

“We’vereplacedourentirefilestoragesystematthesamecostaswewerepayingforourbackupbeforeNasuni.”

“Themoreweuse,themoremoneywesave.”

Customersalsoconsistentlymentionedthattraditionaldataprotectionwastooexpensiveanddifficulttomanage.HereNasuniprovidedthemwithsignificantsavings.Nasunipusheslessactivedataoffexpensivehardwareintothecloud,eliminatingexpensivebackupandDRsystems.Customerscommented:

“Afairlysignificantportionofour[IT]budgetwasspentnotjustoninternalstorage,butthebackupofthatstorage–andthenoffsitebackup.Itwasano-winsituation.”

“Wewouldhavespentmorethan$1Minthenextthreeyearsjustonbackupstorage.Insteadwe’llsave50%overthenextthreeyearsonbackupalone,andslashingMPLStrafficwillgenerateadditionalsavings.Allwhileimprovingtheuserexperienceandreducingrisk.”

Athirdareaofsavingsthatcustomersmentionedwasoperationalcosts.Staffingcoststomanagegrowingfiledatastorageandprotectionwereacommontheme.Savingscategoriesincluded:

OperationalSavingsþ CostsmovedfromupfrontCapExtomorepredictable,monthlyOpExwithNasuniandcloudsubscriptionsthat

includestorageanddataprotection.þ Lowerstaffingcostsforstorageprovisioning,setupandupgrades,projectmanagement,helpdesk,andmanaging

backup,replication,andrestoreactivities.þ Lowercostsduetoeliminationofneedforpre-installationandperiodicprofessionalservices/consulting.þ GreaterITefficiencyduetosimple,self-service,centralizedmanagement.

Forsome,largerfilesizeswerethedriveroflargeroperatingcosts.MoreTBstomanagetranslatedintomorestaffing.Oneorganizationwith220TBofstorageknewthatitscapacityneedsweregoingtoatleastdouble,andmaybetriple,incomingyears,butNasunireducedtheITcomplexityandadministrativeeffortrequired.Organizationsstated:

“Weknewwe’dbeatleastdoublingourcapacity,soifwecontinuedwithourstoragearray,wewouldneedatleasttwoadditionalFTEs.WithNasuni,wedon’t.”

“Really,we’regetting20%-30%moreoutofourgrantdollars[withNasuni].”

“Inadditiontomeetingallourtechnicalrequirements,thecosteffectivenessandeaseofexpansionmadeNasunitherightsolutionforus.”

Aglobalfileshare,andsimple,centralizeddatamanagementanddataefficiencymakethedifferenceformanyorganizations.Customersstated:

“CreatingaglobalfileshareandmanagingdatafromthecenterwillleadtounprecedentedproductionefficiencyforITandbusinessoperations.”

“We’veseendramaticimprovementsinefficiency,particularlyinourRevit/Facilitybusinessline.Wehavemuchlessdatasprawlacrossoffices,andmassiveamountsofGISdataarecentralizedanddeduplicated.”



AnotheroperationalchallengethatNasunisolvedforcustomerswastoreducetheneedfordatamigrations,whetherforglobalaccessorforstoragearrayupgrades.Customersmentionedlargedatamigrationsofmorethat100TBthatrequired6-12monthstocomplete.Somecustomerstriedscale-outstorageasasolution,butthatrequiredadditionaldatacenterfloorspaceandstrainedenergysystems,drivingupcostsunexpectedly.

“It’smuchmorecosteffectiveforus,andaloteasiertomanage.Migrationshavebecomeathingofthepast.

“Datamigrationsusedtocauselonginterruptions.WithNasuniwehaveapredictablecoststructurewithoutongoingsalesnegotiations.”

EconomicBenefitsfromImprovedEnd-userProductivityþ Greateremployeeproductivityduetolesstimespentdealingwithhelpdeskandsupport.þ Greateremployeeproductivityduetofewerinterruptionsfromplannedorunplanneddowntime,including

backup,replication,serveradministration,andfiledatarestore.þ Greateremployeeproductivityduetoglobalfileavailability,mobileaccess,andlessapplicationdowntimeand

delay.

Althoughtheyarenotalwaystheeasiesttoidentify,productivityimprovementshaveabigimpactonorganizations.TheykeepITemployeesmoreengagedinvalue-addedactivitiesratherthanonmanaginginfrastructurecomponents,andtheyreturnvaluableworktimetoallemployees.Thetimeusersspendwaitingforsupport,waitingforfilerestores,andbeinginterruptedbyapplicationdowntimeforITtaskssuchasserver,storage,andbackupadministrationreduceanorganization’srevenue-generatingpotential.Also,animprovedabilitytocollaborateincreasesproductivity.SomecustomerstalkedabouttheirabilitytoworkbettertogetherwithNasuni:

“Wehaveincreasedourcollaboration,andmadeourbillableprofessionalsmuchmoreproductive.”

“Wecollaboratesomuchbetternow–Nasunimakesiteasytoscan,synchronize,andsharedata,andaccessitanywhereinrealtime.”

...whileothersmentionedoverallproductivityimprovements:

“Thisbecomesafoundationthatotherplatformsmaybuildon,helpingustoimplementVDI,mobiledata,andmoremanageable,reliabledataprotection.”

“WhenwedeployedNasuniinoneofourlargestoffices,withseniorexecutiveson-site,noonenoticed.That’stheperfectscenario—betterstorageandnochangetoend-users.”

“Weareatourmostefficientwhenourmanufacturingfacilitiesarerunning—anydowntimecostsusmoney.Nasunihasincreasedproductivityacrossthecompanybydramaticallyimprovingfileaccessandreplicationacrossoffices.”

“WhenI’dreceiveaticketforalostfileitwouldtakeapproximatelytwohourstoclose.WithNasuni,starttofinish,we’retalkingfivetotenminutes.Insomecases,twominutes.”

Theabilitytoscalefastandeasilywasmentionedmanytimesbycustomers.Scalingtraditionalstoragerequirescallingastoragevendor,gettingaquote,presentingittomanagement,andthenwaitingmonthsfortheprocurementprocess.Oritrequiresbuyingexcesscapacityupfrontthatsitsidleandwasteduntilit’sneeded.Nasunieliminatesallthat.

“Ican’ttellyouhowmucheasieritmakesmylife,nothavingtoupgradedrives,migratedata,figureoutwhatdisktrayswillcost,andfigureoutourbackupneeds.”



“Asweneedmorewejustpressabuttonandwatchitaddmorestorage.Weplacetheorderandit’sdone–thatleavesmetoworryaboutotherprojectsandmakeourITdepartmentandinfrastructurebetterthanweseetoday.”

EconomicModelling

ESG’sNasuniEnterpriseFileServicesEconomicValueModel

ESGleveragedtheinformationcollectedthroughvendor-providedmaterial,publicandindustryknowledgeofeconomicsandtechnologies,andtheresultsofcustomerinterviewstocreateathree-yearTCO/ROImodelthatcomparesthecostsandbenefitsofdeployingNasuniEnterpriseFileServiceswithadefinedpresentmodeofoperation(PMO).Themodelconsidersthenumberofusers,mobileusers,remoteoffices,anddatacenterlocations,aswellastheuseofphysicalorvirtualNasuniFilers.Itoffersacomparisonwithentry-level,mid-range,orenterprise-scaleNASsolutions.

Themodelconsidershowmuchfiledataisinuseandtheannualdatagrowthrate,andfordataprotection,thefrequencyoffullandincrementalbackupsandtheamountofdatareplicatedremotely.ItalsoconsidersthenumberofapplicationsthataccessNasuniservicesandtherequiredlevelofcollaboration.TheserequirementswereusedtosizeboththeNasuniandPMOconfiguration.ThemodelcalculatesandreportsthedifferencebetweentheNasuniandPMOconfigurationsforstorageTCOCapExandOpEx(costofacquisition,power/cooling/floorspace,support/maintenance,andadministration),aswellasadditionaleconomicbenefitsderivedfromadvantagesresultinginimproveduserandITproductivityandfastertimetovalue.

ItshouldbenotedthatthedataandconclusionspresentedinthisreportreflecttheoutputofESG’seconomicvalueanalysisbasedonthespecificusecaseandassumptionsmodeledforthisreport.ESGacknowledgesthatchangestotheseassumptionswillleadtoadifferentsetofresults,andthereforeadvisesITprofessionalstousethisreportasonevalidationpointinacomprehensivefinancialanalysispriortomakingapurchasedecision.

PricingassumptionsforNasuniproductswereprovidedbyNasuni.OtherITequipmentandlaborcostassumptionswereobtainedfrompubliclyavailablesourcessuchasITvendorwebsitesandpublishedpricelists.ESGacknowledgesthatlistprices,configurationdetails,orotherdatausedasinputsmayvarydependingoninformationsources.

Example:UsingtheEVMtoPredictSavingsforaModeledOrganization

ToillustratetheeconomicadvantageofNasuniEnterpriseFileServicesoveratraditionalstoragedeployment,ESGranasetofassumptionsthroughtheESGEconomicValueModel.Onescenariomodeledamid-marketorganizationsuchasamediaandentertainmentcompany,with500users(growingto550overthreeyears),400mobileusers,twocorporatelocations,eightremoteoffices,andtwolocationstobeaddedoverthreeyears.Thisexamplecompanyused80%physicalNasuniFilersand20%virtual.TheworkloadsandassumptionsarediscussedindetailinthefollowingparagraphsandsummarizedinFigure4.



ESGassumedthatthisorganizationhad250TBoffiledatawithanannualgrowthrateof30%.Themodeledorganizationperformedweeklyfullbackupsanddailyincrementalsforeachfileserver,with50TBofbackupdataremotelyreplicatedforprotection,and100TBreplicatedtomultiplelocationsforfastaccess.Themediaandentertainmentapplicationrequiredonlybasic-levelfilesharingsincemostend-userssimplyviewthefileswithoutmodifyingthem.AsFigure4shows,thiswouldresultinthePMOdeployingmorethan2.5PBoftotalrawNAScapacityrequiredacrossallsitesoverthreeyearstoaccountforfilestorage,backupcopies,andNASoverhead.

Next,ESGaddedinconservativeassumptionsrelatedtotypicalsalaries;hardware,syncandshare,andcloudcosts;andproductdiscounts.Withallthisinformationentered,theESGEVMcalculatedthatbydeployingNasuniFileServicesinsteadofatraditionalmid-range,on-premisesstorageinfrastructure,themodeledorganizationcouldexpecttotalsavingsandbenefitsofmorethan$3.1Moverathree-yearperiod(seeFigure5).ESGcalculatedarelativesavingsandbenefitsadvantageof73%(derivedbydividingthesumofallexpectedsavingsandbenefitsbytheexpectedtotalcostofownershipforatraditionalinfrastructureoverathree-yearperiod).

Figure4.SummaryofWorkloadsModelled




Oftheroughly$3.1Minexpectedsavingsandbenefits,about$2.3MisexpectedasaresultoftraditionalstorageCapExandOpExsavings,withmorethan$750Kinadditionalbenefitsrelatedtothesubscription-basedNasunideployment.

NasuniSubscriptionversusTraditionalStorageTCOSavings

Figure6showsabreakdownofvarioussavingscategories.BecausetheNasunideploymentleveragessubscription-based,cloudstorage,thismodelconfirms$1.6MinsavingsduetothesignificantlysmallerupfrontCapExcostsspreadoutasmorepredictableOpEx.Infrastructurecostswouldbe69%lowerduetoreducedpower,cooling,andfloorspacecosts,andstaffingandprofessionalservicecostswouldbe88%lowerbecauseofthesimpler,centralizedadministrationoffewerinfrastructuresilos.ESG’seconomicmodelpredicts98%lowercostofacquisitionand98%lowercostofwarrantyandmaintenance;itshouldbenotedthatacquisitionandsupportsavingswouldchangealongwiththetypeofstoragedeployed.

Figure5.SummaryofPotentialSavingsandBenefitsRealizedthroughNasuniDeployment


Figure6.NasuniSubscriptionversusTraditionalEnterpriseStorage




OperationalSavings

TheNasunisolutioncanalsosignificantlyreduceoperationalexpenses,andtheseresultsfromourmodelareshowninFigure7.TheseoperationalsavingsaretheresultofNasunireducingthetimerequiredbystorage,networking,andserveradministrators,aswellasITdecisionmakersandcustomersupportengineers,whencomparedwithmanagingaphysicaldeploymentacrossmanysites.Themodeledscenarioimprovesoperationalefficiencyby78%,duetocentralizedmanagementandautomation,plus98%savingsfromsimplerdataprotection,withlesstimespentonbackups,restores,andreplication.Simplerscalingwouldyield89%OpExsavingsbecausetherewouldbenoneedtodealwithplanningandexecutingstrategiestoaddresstraditionalstoragegrowth.AnotherOpExbenefitwouldbe59%fasterproblemresolutionsincefewerstorage-relatedissueswouldoccur.

EconomicBenefitsofImprovedEnd-userProductivity

ESG’smodelpredictedadditionaleconomicbenefitsthatmaynotatfirstbeapparent.Theseproductivitysavingsareoftendifficulttoacceptuntilonerealizesthatsimplifyingaprocessactsasaforcemultiplierresultinginproductivityimprovementsacrossmanylevelsoftheorganization.ThesimplicityoftheNasunisolutionenablesend-users,administrators,decisionmakers,andsupportpersonneltobemoreproductivebecausetheyspendlesstimehavingtogetandgivesupport,leavingmoretimetoworkonrevenue-generatingactivities.ESG’smodelestimatessavingsof75%duetoadecreaseintimespentdealingwithsupport.Globalfileavailabilitymeansusershavelessapplicationdowntimeanddelayswhilewaitingforfileaccess.Simplerdataprotectionandgeneraladministrationoffileservicesalsoresultinbetterend-userproductivity.Themodelpredictedsavingsduetoa59%decreaseinapplicationdowntimeanddelays,88%duetosimplerdataprotection,and76%duetosimplerdailyadministration.TheseresultsfromtheEVMareshowninFigure8.

Figure7.EstimatedOperationalSavings




KeyMetricsCalculatedfromModeledAnalysis

Basedontheresultsoftheanalysis,ESG’sEVMcalculatedandreportedsomekeypurchasingmetrics.Whilemanyorganizationstypicallyconsideronlythecost/GBprovidedbyastoragesolution,cautionisadvised.Cost/GBwillfluctuategreatlydependingonhowcapacityandcostaredefined:forexample,usableversusrawcapacity,orcostofacquisitiononlyversusallcosts.ESG’smodelcalculatedtheusablecapacitycost/GB(asafunctionofallthree-yearCapEx-andOpEx-relatedcosts)tobe$4.54lessperGBfortheNasunisolutionthanfortheon-premises,mid-rangestoragesolution.Anotherusefulmetricisthenumberofhourssavedinadministrativetime:TheNasunisolutionwouldrequire183fewerperson-hoursperweekthanthetraditionaldeployment.TheEVMalsocalculatedthatemployeescouldbe77%moreproductivewhileaccessingtheirdata4withtheimprovedcollaborationandself-serviceoftheNasunisolution.ThekeymetricssummaryforthemodeledorganizationisshowninFigure9.

4Productivityincreasewouldbeapplicableduringperiodsoftimepreviouslyspentdealingwithfiles,notduringallothertasks.Expectedweeklyhourssavedperemployeeisshowninkeymetricdetails.

Figure8.EstimatedSavingsfromEnd-userProductivityImprovements


Figure9.ESG’sModeledOrganization–SummaryofKeyMetricsAchievedwithNasuni




AdditionalModeledScenarios

Thereismuchvariabilityacrossdistributedorganizationswhenitcomestotheirunstructureddataandworkloadrequirements.TocreateabroaderpictureofpotentialNasuniEnterpriseFileServicessavings,ESGmodeledtwoadditionalscenariosusingassumptionsforothertypicalNasunicustomers:onemanaging100TBofcapacity,andonemanaging500TBofcapacity.Thesescenariosusedifferentassumptionsintermsofusers,locations,andPMOcomparisons,buttheyprovideinsightintothesavingsavailableatdifferentcapacitylevels.Thetablebelowprovidesafewhighlights:totalsavings,storage-specificsavings,reducedadministrativehours/week,andthereductionincost/GB.

TotalThree-year

SavingsandBenefitsEstimatedThree-year

StorageSavingsFewerAdminHours/Week

LowerCostPerGB

($/GBSavings)

100TB $2.6M $1.4M 115 $8.42

250TB $3.1M $2.3M 183 $4.54

500TB $15.4M $13.9M 216 $23.84

Notethatinthe500TBexample,thesavingsaredrasticallyincreased.Thisscenariomodeledamuchlargerorganizationwithmanymoredatacenters,remotesites,andusers,andcomparedagainstenterprise-levelstoragearraysandbackupsolutionsratherthanmid-rangestoragearraysandbackupsolutions.ThisfurtherillustratesthepointthatNasunisubscription-basedfileservicesprovideamorepredictableandscalablecoststructureastheorganizationgrows.

Net-newversusPhasedDeployment

ItshouldbenotedthattheESGmodelandresultsarebasedonacomparisonbetweendeployinganewNasuniEdgeapplianceandcloud-subscriptionsolutionversusanewtraditional,on-premisesstorageinfrastructureinmultipledatacentersandremoteoffices.Thiscomparisonassumesthattheorganizationmustpurchase(orupgrade)allexistingstorageacrossallsites.IfcustomersinsteadphaseouttheirtraditionalNASinfrastructureovertime,thecostsandsavingswillvarydependingonhowmuchandwhattypeofhardwareisinuse,theageofthishardwareanditsexpectedreplacementrate,licensingandsupportconsiderations,etc.Inthiscase,spendingmayincreaseforashortperiodoftimeascustomersdealwithbothtraditionalCapExandNasuniOpExcostsuntildataandworkloadsarecompletelymigrated.Oncethetraditionalinfrastructureisphasedout,theorganizationwillbeleftwithonlysubscriptioncosts,andgrowthcanbeaccommodatedeasily;incomparison,growthinthetraditionalinfrastructurewillrequireperiodicadditionalcapitalexpenses.Itisessentialthatthistoolbeusedaspartofyourownanalysis,basedontherealitiesofyoursituation.

TheBiggerTruth

Filedataanditsenormousgrowthcontinuetochallengeorganizationsofallsizes.Therearemanydriversofthis,andchiefamongthemistheabilityoftoday’smobileworkforcetocreateandconsumedocuments,designfiles,video,audio,images,etc.onmultipledevicesnomatterwheretheyare.Otherkeydriversincludecompliancerequirementsthatdemandmoredatacopiesandlongerretention;increasinglylargeandcomplexfilessuchashigherfidelityimages;advancementsinscanningandvideotechnologiesacrossmultipleindustries;DNAsequencingtechnologies;andIoTdevices.

Formany,thecostsofstoring,managing,andprotectingallthisdatawithtraditionalstoragesiloshasbecomeoverwhelming.Asorganizationssearchforstrategic,long-termsolutions,theyincreasinglyturntocloud-basedsolutions,



whichcanoftenprovidenotonlyabettercoststructure,butalsoimprovementsinfunctionalitythatmakeorganizationsmoreproductive.

NasuniEnterpriseFileServiceswereborninthecloudandbuiltforcloudscaleandeconomics.Leveraginghigh-performanceNasuniEdgeappliances,aglobalfilesystem,andcloudstorage,Nasuniprovidessharedfileaccessalongwithautomaticdataprotectionandbuilt-insecurity.Cloudstorageprovidesunlimitedscalabilitytohandledatagrowththatcanbeaccommodatedwithoutthetraditionalprocurementdelays.Nasunideliversthefileaccess,performance,andprotectionorganizationsdemandtoday,whiledramaticallyreducingtheamountofhardware,software,dataprotection,disasterrecovery,administration,andsupportrequired.Thisresultsinsignificantcostssavings,andwithNasuni,costsarespreadoutovertimeinsteadofpaidupfront.Inaddition,theabilitytoscalequicklyandeasilyeliminatesacommon,expensive,andwastefultactic:thatis,buyingmorestoragethanyouneedtominimizefuturedisruptionwhenyougrow.

ESGuseditsEconomicValueValidationprocesstoexploreandvalidatethepotentialcostssavingsofNasuniEnterpriseFileServicesoveratraditionalstorageinfrastructure.Atahighlevel,wevalidatedsignificantsavingsandbenefitsrelatedto:

þ Storage,includinghardwareandsoftware,datacenterinfrastructureservices,andmanagement.þ Operations,includingmovingtosubscription-basedOpExinsteadofupfrontCapex;staffing;maintenance,

support,andprofessionalservices;andtheimprovedefficiencyofcentralizedmanagement.þ Improvedproductivityduetobetterdataaccessandlessdisruptionanddowntime.

Wemodeledatypicalmediacustomerwith250TBofdata,andvalidatedmorethan$3.1Minoverallsavingsandbenefitsoverthreeyears,a60%improvementoveratraditionalmid-rangeNASdeployment.NasuniEnterpriseFileServicesdelivered$4.54lowercost/GB,183fewerhoursperweekofadministrativeeffort,and77%moreproductiveemployees.Whilethismodeledscenarioisrevealing,theimportanceoftheESGmodelisitsabilitytoaccommodatespecificinputsthatshowcustomersveryspecificsavingsandbenefitsbasedontheircurrentsituationsandfutureexpectations.

Gettingfiledatacostsundercontroliscriticalformanyorganizations.Traditionalstorageanddataprotectionsilosarestaggeringundertheweightofmassivedatagrowth,andtherearelikelymuchbetterwaystospendyourorganization’sITbudgetthanoncontinuingtousethesetraditionalmethodswhenthereareoptionslikeNasunithatprovidebetterdataservicesatlowercost.ESG’sEconomicValueValidationprocessclearlydemonstratesthesignificantsavingsandbenefitsavailablefromleveragingcloud-basedNasuniEnterpriseFileServices.Ifyouaretiredofattemptingtopredictyourdistributedstoragerequirements,andarelookingtoleveragetheagilityandflexibilityofthecloudtocontrolbothcapitalandoperationalcosts,ESGstronglyadvisesyoutoaskyourNasunirepresentativetoenteryourorganization’srequirementsintotheESGEconomicValueModeltoseeifNasuniEnterpriseFileServicesistherightsolutionforyou.


Alltrademarknamesarepropertyoftheirrespectivecompanies.InformationcontainedinthispublicationhasbeenobtainedbysourcesTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup(ESG)considerstobereliablebutisnotwarrantedbyESG.ThispublicationmaycontainopinionsofESG,whicharesubjecttochangefromtimetotime.ThispublicationiscopyrightedbyTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.Anyreproductionorredistributionofthispublication,inwholeorinpart,whetherinhard-copyformat,electronically,orotherwisetopersonsnotauthorizedtoreceiveit,withouttheexpressconsentofTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.,isinviolationofU.S.copyrightlawandwillbesubjecttoanactionforcivildamagesand,ifapplicable,criminalprosecution.Shouldyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactESGClientRelationsat508.482.0188.

www.esg-global.com [email protected] P.508.482.0188

EnterpriseStrategyGroupisanITanalyst,research,validation,andstrategyfirmthatprovidesmarketintelligenceandactionableinsighttotheglobalITcommunity.


quantifying the value of nasuni enterprise file services · phases: value scoping, validation,...

Documents