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Planning A Storage Strategy |
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ReviewsApril 5, 2007 To: Senior Management, Directors and All Storage Professionals Subject: Planning a Storage Strategy by Randy Kerns, ISBN 1-59872-606-4 We are beginning to understand that organizations that manage their information well create competitive advantages, communicate more effectively with employees, improve customer relations and minimize regulatory exposure. Almost all information within a business entity is in digital form stored on a variety of media in a few locations. These repositories are so valuable that effective use of them should be the province of the Board of Directors. However technical and operational complexity mandates that Boards delegate this management to trained professionals, as is commonly done with risk mitigation, finance, and legal and is beginning to be to be done with privacy, security and technology via subcommittees of the Board that have operating oversight responsibilities. Rarely is such important responsibility delegated so far down. Mistakes can stop a company in its tracks, cause people to go to jail, reduce the market value of a company by as much as a third virtually overnight or contribute immensely to its success. What used to be considered “data processing” has evolved to information infrostrucures over a twenty year period. Focus has shifted from the infrastructure, the mechanics of storing, processing, securing, communicating and destruction of information to the Infostructure, the life-cycle business management of the information. A defined and frequently reviewed storage strategy is central to storing and using millions of pieces of information effectively. Directors should review storage strategies annually, partly to force their creation and partly to assure that they are headed in an acceptable direction. Randy Kerns, who I worked with for years both at Evaluator Group and previous companies, is a thought leader in the creation of storage strategies. He is one of a very few development engineers who transcended designing how hardware and software storage products should work to how they should be used. His new book, Planning a Storage Strategy, is a must read for every storage professional and for each member in the management chain above. The book is unique for its subject matter and style. Randy uses words efficiently in short chapters. There is absolutely no fluff or vendor bias in its content. It is a comprehensive treatment of the Business Issues, Business Requirements, Strategy Components and Strategic Decisions. It even contains short descriptive paragraphs about what are today a few fringe, advanced technologies that we hear about and that you may need to recognize but are probably premature for a strategy today. Unlike other documents on creating strategies this book has short chapters on Developing a Storage Strategy (how to) and Randy’s recommendations together with a suggested check list. The book reeks of practical experience and only a person with Randy’s background could write it. I strongly recommend this book to all those interested in or who should be interested in information storage. Jack Scott |