Technology renewals and disruption are causing major headaches for CIOs who are unsure where to place their operating budgets.
Westcon-Comstor says the issue is particularly problematic when it comes to storage infrastructure purchases.
This is why the company has partnered NetApp to roll out NetApp Advance solution to partners and customers.
Daniel Thenga, NetApp and SolarWinds architecture manager and business unit manager, Comstor Southern Africa, says, "Infrastructure modernisation is a term used in almost every conversation. But the bottom line is that it can't be viewed as an option. It is a necessity. Market disruption is a huge problem for customers navigating inflation, budget cuts, limited capex, skills shortages, and sustainability mandates. This makes it even more difficult for a business to future-proof their tech investments, of which storage remains a key part.”
Working with NetApp, Westcon-Comstor helps partners guide customers in choosing solutions that offer optimal performance at the best price, have minimal carbon footprint, and can scale to meet future needs.
The distributor recommends using NetApp Advance, a top-tier portfolio of programs and guarantees that complement NetApp’s AFF and FAS systems, including the new capacity flash AFF C-Series.
The Storage Lifecycle Program (SLP) is central to this offering, following a 'buy once and get IT technology that evolves with you’ model. The program centres on:
- More accessible and faster upgrade cycles when purchasing a NetApp AFF or FAS system with the SLP option; the solutions are upgradeable indefinitely with non-disruptive refreshes of storage controllers every three years at no additional cost.
- Trade-in capacity that limits investment risk and will future-proof storage purchases when acquiring additional capacity and trading in existing SLP-covered storage media for a 100% capacity credit.
- VIP services and AI-powered analytics provide insights into the performance of storage systems through proactive monitoring and full-stack visibility.
- A simplified software experience through continual software updates and access to new ONTAP capabilities and advancements as soon as they become available.
“With NetApp Advance, NetApp has also factored in that most clients will undergo some form of cloud journey if they haven't already. This is supported through its Cloud Advantage program, which allows a customer to swap an on-premises controller refresh for cloud services or hybrid cloud storage-as-a-service with NetApp Keystone," adds Thenga.
Within the NetApp Advance program, the vebndor offers a guaranteed storage efficiency of 4:1 for SAN workloads and 1.5:1 for NAS workloads on its ONTAP AFF systems. The companies believe this is essential for African businesses looking to improve energy usage, and reduce energy costs while trying to become more sustainable.
Right-sizing and tiering are also simplified as users can automate the movement of infrequently used data to more cost-efficient object storage without refactoring applications. NetApp’s storage is also natively available on AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, allowing clients to tier to a cloud of choice or from high-performance all-flash to hybrid-flash/HDD systems.
Thenga adds, “NetApp Advance is [...] a bold move by a company in recognising the challenges facing CIOs when needing to upgrade or refresh technology, or even when they need to pivot their tech model to a more modernised approach.”
Share