"We need a SAN solution."

When company executives take the elevator down a few floors to seek out IT professionals on a technology issue, this is often the way in which they deliver their request. Instead of stating, "This is my storage problem, how can we fix this?" many executives jump directly to a product-focused request before evaluating the entire problem or need. The executive understands the business purpose for a storage solution, but most likely does not know what solution best fits his need. As your organization's expert on harnessing technology components to drive business value, you often must translate what the executive knows - the fundamental business requirement - into the technology answer with the greatest positive impact on shareholder value.

While there is a simple list of questions that can help identify what type of storage solution is needed, one question is most important: "What are you looking to accomplish?"

Your first step for managing the request is to capture a solid understanding of the business objective the executives are trying to achieve. Are they focused on regulatory compliance? Do they need a better way to store and sort customer data? Are they frustrated about having to delete their e-mails?

With the business objectives in hand, you can then walk the executives through a discussion about the technology solution that will meet their objectives. For example, if they request a storage solution, you'll want to use high-level terms to define what a SAN solution does relative to the other storage options such as Network Attached Storage (NAS) or simply larger server drives. During this process, keep the discussion focused on the solution value in business terms - and in plain language. Overloading the definitions with technical terms and jargon will lose executives, instead of educating them.

Much to the executive's surprise, a SAN solution may not be the best fit for the problem. If the organization is having difficulty backing up data, the back-up server or network may be out of date - a problem that is not going to be fixed necessarily by a SAN solution. By pinpointing the need or problem, then defining the solution, you can arrive at a successful storage strategy for your customer.

Executive-Speak: What should you really be discussing?

Rather than talking about the differences between SAN and NAS, IT administrators should use the following questions as a guide when evaluating a customer's need:

• What kind of data needs to be stored?
• How long does the data need to be retained?
• How regularly does the data need to be accessed?
• What disaster recovery requirements need to be incorporated into the overall storage strategy?
  
  

What kind of data needs to be stored?

Executives may not realize that different data requires different storage solutions. Business managers should not be expected to know the difference between exchange data and file data, for example. Always focused on beating the competition, executives may perceive that they need high-speed this or the largest capacity of that. If the solution requires an upgrade to storage for file data, the company may not necessarily need high-speed disk. IT professionals should explain in simple terms that the company may actually save money by bundling two different solutions for their file and exchange data - using only high-speed storage for its exchange data. A bottom-line-focused business leader will appreciate this type of high-level advice from a technology advisor, and after all, that is what you are there for.

How long does the data need to be retained?

Many executives believe they need to keep all data forever. Other managers think they will not need some data after a period of time. For instance, if the line manager works within the university or college, you will want to ask how long e-mail files should be kept for retrieval - one month? one quarter? one year? In healthcare, on the other hand, some data storage needs may be determined by regulatory requirements. Work hand-in-hand with your executives to understand their market - and then respond with a solution that fulfills their specific business objectives.

Also, executives must be made aware of how much it costs to keep data, which may rapidly narrow their storage technology choices or - when retention is not mandated - shorten the length of time the organization stores certain data.

How regularly does the data need to be accessed?

How often data needs to be accessed depends on what type of information it is. For example, email and critical or often-used data should be stored with high-speed access, while other data can be stored on slower, less expensive solutions. While this knowledge is second nature to an IT professional, business managers will probably not know the differences among data and just assume that they need high-speed "everything." Explaining the differences to the manager aids IT professionals in providing the best solution, while also helping the business unit stay within budget.

What disaster recovery requirements need to be incorporated into the overall storage strategy?

This is yet another aspect of storage where IT administrators must bring executives back to reality. Everyone would like to have systems up and running instantaneously when a disaster strikes; however, not everyone has the budget or real need to do so. If the customer can survive a few days of downtime, it can reduce costs significantly. The government is, of course, an exception to this rule - the business of the country should be up and running on a secondary site immediately. A college or university may need data to be available immediately but does not usually have the budget for a complete secondary site. This is where an IT administrator can recommend a realistic option - a cold site where data is available but not accessible until manual intervention has occurred.

Taking the budget into consideration, then aligning various options for disaster recovery, enables the IT professional to provide solid information so the executive can make the correct compromise between their budget and business objectives.

I didn't think of that: Other factors

Legal and regulatory requirements for records retention and privacy protection are driving executives to the IT professionals' door to discuss market-driven requirements for additional storage. As we've discussed, the most important factor in developing a successful storage strategy is understanding the business needs and asking: "What are you looking to accomplish?"

However, IT professionals must remind executives to consider other factors as the storage strategy takes shape, such as how upgrading a storage system can affect back-up requirements or how security should be incorporated into the storage system. Executives also need to consider how they will implement the storage solution, as there is a learning curve associated with most new storage solutions. Do they need on-site setup? Training? These are all simple questions, but when taking on a large project, it is not safe to assume that they have already been addressed.

You are the expert

As an IT professional, you are the expert - that is why executives come to you for advice. It is second nature for IT administrators to "talk tech," but waxing on about disk-to-disk-to tape will not advance the conversation. However, explaining in layman's terms how a certain product works, and understanding the executive's needs and problems, will allow you to design an effective, successful storage solution within budget.