Prostor infinivault surely making some waves in archiving with speed, capacity and functionality

The closest disk based storage will ever get to being a solid archival platform. Prostor infnivault has demonstrated the RDX platform is capable of longevity, capacity and the functionality required to use disk based systems in an archival capacity. I'm curious as to how the competition in Tape and now defunct optical will respond to this.

Alani Kuye
Phantom Data Systems

LTO Tape Archiving System STILL beats disk on capacity and overall cost

We just concluded an LTO tape library implementation to archive of 2.5 Petabytes of data at rest for a client on the East coast. It ceases to amaze me how spinning disk manufacturers still try to position their technology as archival grade. I strongly believe every storage technology platform has it's place. However, when vendors try to position their products as the solution to all problems that's when I take "professional offense" to such actions.
It's important for organizations to consider reclaiming space on primary storage environments. This eliminates the procurement of unnecessary additional disk clusters (I'm sure every disk storage manufacturer NetApp, HP etc will swear at me for saying this). Simply put, instead of simply buying more disk, why not reclaim space on primary clusters via archiving fixed/static data that's no longer used or accessed. Especially duplicate or triplicate data that's very rarely if ever used by the organization?
Back to my earlier anecdote, we proposed two solutions. An LTO 4 tape archive or a blu ray based optical storage library. Needless to say, our disk based competition (I won't name any names but as we all know their price points are about the same) tendered their proposals as well. Now I won't go into competitive details but succinctly, if you're looking to archive data that's not critical to the daily operations of the organization or rarely ever accessed would you go for the most cost effective with minimal performance trade offs or go for top of the line performance at astronomical cost?
Needless to say the tape archive proposal was almost $500,000 cheaper than the disk based competition and the optical option was roughly $325,000 cheaper. On value add, both systems delivered the offsite, cataloging, long term archival and reliability benefits the disk system simply didn't.
Now my point simply is; every storage platform has it's place. However, it's important to look beyond simply making a sale by truly listening to what the business and technical requirements are. I'm a firm believer that hearing and listening are two different things. Disk based systems thrive in environments that require speed, performance and high availability. However when discussing data storage or archiving it's important to look beyond those basic requirements. Most organizations only recently started getting into structured archive management due to the exponential data growth over the last decade. Archives are the final termination point for data and approaching those complex problems begin with understanding "WHY" the need to archive.

Alani Kuye
Phantom Data Systems
Data Storage Solutions

ERP RIO continued

Streamlining business processes via ERP systems has been of great benefits to companies no matter how big or small. This has led to reduced costs and has been able to provide a bird’s eye view of operations as a whole. Companies such as PeopleSoft, SAP and Baan have been on the forefront of this business process streamlining applications. They help companies make more effective decisions on a corporate wide basis. This id due in large to the aggregation and consolidation of all reports thereby outputting this data in to not only meaningful but also useful information. By diligently following the standard steps needed to implementing an ERP system, a company can potentially unlock the keys to more cost effective decision making techniques. On the contrary, by deploying an ERP system without the due processes to be followed might require a serious disaster recovery plan coupled with solid company insurance to cover potential losses.
Furthermore, a solid sensitive analysis plan that is comprehensive enough to include all facets of operations will greatly pave the way for a solid ERP system implementation.
Notwithstanding, lack of responsibility on the part of business units or a lack of dedication on the part of key members of the deployment team can adversely affect an implementation plan at the execution stage. There are risks involved with the deployment of an ERP system, especially with success in mind. From budgeting to stakeholders to a solid leadership, recognizing these pitfalls greatly reduces risks.

Return on Investment (ROI) MUST be taken into consideration when implementing an ERP plan. Consolidation, integration and streamlining could be reasons why some companies deploy ERP systems with not a lot of emphasis on Return on Investment. Nevertheless, ROI is still taken into consideration. It may take some companies a longer period say a year, two, or maybe more to fully get an ERP system running. Costs associated with this may be very high and Return on Investment may take a few years to set in. ERP changes the way business processes are done and getting this message across, integrating systems, training and consultation costs which may be the biggest cost have to be carefully planned and glitches in the processes should be anticipated for successful deployment. A successful deployment will be the platform and set the stage for future e-commerce systems. Although ROI may require the company to change its business model, payback may often take some time.

Business Process Redesign in Travel management in an SAP R/3 upgrade project

Case Study
Schallert, Marit PhD. – Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Australian Computer Services Agency - CSA
This is an electronic book that goes into detail about how organizations aim to reduce and control their travel costs by the utilization of integrated computer systems. Systems such as the enterprise system SAP R/3 and implementation of travel management integration enterprise solutions.
The Australian Corporate Services Agency (CSA) is a jointly owned company by two Queensland government departments. It is the result of a merger of the service departments of the two government departments into a separate organizational entity. This was based on the belief that shared services can greatly improve the value and enhance the productivity of support functions.
Moreover, since a business approach has to be taken into consideration when integrating Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, CSA’s mission statement greatly reflects that approach. Thus, the mission statement is to “Professionally deliver quality corporate services for government.”

The System:
CSA implemented a centralized Enterprise Resource Planning system with real time system support coupled with complete data visibility on all levels of the organization. The SAP R/3 system was selected for this task because it also reflected the mission statement. Coupled with the above, CSA’s clients also use the SAP R/3 system.
Moreover, CSA had to manage several legacy systems prior to the deployment of the new SAP R/3 system which to a great extent substituted the old legacy systems. Notwithstanding, there still remains the Asset Management Information System which has been partly Integrated with the SAP R/3 system.
Since system integration streamlines business processes and Information Technology will greatly improve service delivery. This way, data will be captured in an early point and converted into meaningful information. Data information need to be easily accessible, this can be achieved via integration.
As the example shows at the end of the case, the previous system gave then all the information, however since there was no integration, they simply could not develop meaningful information and make accurate forecasts. They also could not trace travel documents, expenses and customer information. However with the new system, streamlined information makes the whole process seamless.
Notwithstanding, the Asset Management Information System is basically an in – house inventory management system. It contains information on owned and leased assets separated by asset fleet, type, make, model, location, and business area. It also performs additional tasks to include fuel card management, fuel expenses and fuel inventory control. Vehicular hiring, provision and invoice validation of all vehicles for business travels on all 2000 vehicles managed by the agency.
It should however be noted that there has been an organization wide high resistance to fully replace this system! Since the Asset Management Information System - AMIS is not fully integrated into the SAP R/3 system, functionality in those areas not integrated will still cause conflicts and redundancy in those areas. Consequently resulting in a major upgrade planned for the near future. With resistance from some quarters in the organization, it is clearly evident that the issue or problem of acceptability of IT projects raises its ugly head again. When people are comfortable with a system that helps perform their daily tasks, migrating or having to learn a new system is always problematic. This happens with most IT projects. It should however be noted that most Enterprise Resource Planning projects are always organization wide, thereby more or less requiring everyone in the organization to either upgrade or learn a new system.
Conclusively, we can see how an Enterprise Resource Planning System can greatly improve lead time, eliminate redundancy and greatly streamline the business process. However, we also have to take into consideration the issue of acceptability, support, compatibility and costs of implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning application. The e-book greatly shed light on the specificity of the systems as to functionality and integration without elaborate use of terms, numbers and IT jargon.

ERP ROI - RReturn On Investment

Streamlining business processes via ERP systems has been of great benefits to companies no matter how big or small. This has led to reduced costs and has been able to provide a bird’s eye view of operations as a whole. Companies such as PeopleSoft, SAP and Baan have been on the forefront of this business process streamlining applications. They help companies make more effective decisions on a corporate wide basis. This id due in large to the aggregation and consolidation of all reports thereby outputting this data in to not only meaningful but also useful information. By diligently following the standard steps needed to implementing an ERP system, a company can potentially unlock the keys to more cost effective decision making techniques. On the contrary, by deploying an ERP system without the due processes to be followed might require a serious disaster recovery plan coupled with solid company insurance to cover potential losses.
Furthermore, a solid sensitive analysis plan that is comprehensive enough to include all facets of operations will greatly pave the way for a solid ERP system implementation.
Notwithstanding, lack of responsibility on the part of business units or a lack of dedication on the part of key members of the deployment team can adversely affect an implementation plan at the execution stage. There are risks involved with the deployment of an ERP system, especially with success in mind. From budgeting to stakeholders to a solid leadership, recognizing these pitfalls greatly reduces risks.

Return on Investment (ROI) MUST be taken into consideration when implementing an ERP plan. Consolidation, integration and streamlining could be reasons why some companies deploy ERP systems with not a lot of emphasis on Return on Investment. Nevertheless, ROI is still taken into consideration. It may take some companies a longer period say a year, two, or maybe more to fully get an ERP system running. Costs associated with this may be very high and Return on Investment may take a few years to set in. ERP changes the way business processes are done and getting this message across, integrating systems, training and consultation costs which may be the biggest cost have to be carefully planned and glitches in the processes should be anticipated for successful deployment. A successful deployment will be the platform and set the stage for future e-commerce systems. Although ROI may require the company to change its business model, payback may often take some time.

Competitive Intelligence or Industrial Espionage?

Leonard Fuld ... "Look at a company like Unilever – they employ thousands of scientists. We did an analysis of the patents that Unilever has issued and discovered that a handful of scientists may be the prime drivers of research in a certain area of Unilever. We did a scan to update some material and came across one of these scientists, who was looking to employ a Ph.D fellow in the lab. Through the ad listing itself, you begin to learn what this particular scientist is working on. This is the power of the Net. It allows you to peek into a company's activities through many other doors that you wouldn't have gotten access to before."

Is this the backdoor into a companys operations? I think so. It is so difficultly easy nowadays to get the most important competitive intelligence fromthe most ignored sources. Job postings, request for proposals, white papers, public research and seminars! This is very interesting especially with the bruhaha over analysis and intelligence. SAP for example can not only consolidate but streamline the business processes andd critical paths but also expose key areas of operations useful to competitors. All I need to do is either attend a conference or telephone the company pretending to be a student conducting a survey and I can easily walk into all the information I need. Customer service...beware!

Consider outsourcing, everytime I speak with an indian when i have problems with microsoft office applications, I let him know I'm calling from New York City of Connecticut and as soon as he knows an American is on the phone, he tries to satistfy me at all costs! The other day I was able to get 4 different registration codes from 2 service reps (outsourced indians) for just one copy of my software product. not because I needed it but just testing the system and understanding critical path analysis of these sort of operation...beware software bootleggers and pirates!
watch out for the concurrent part of this series.

more to come,


Alani O. Kuye
Competitive Business Intelligence Analyst
Phantom Data systems

http://www.phantomdatasystems.com