IBM Opens Center to Help Clients Manage and Archive Massive Amounts

As part of IBM’s New Enterprise Data Center strategy to help customers gain greater efficiency from their IT resources, IBM has opened the world’s first center specifically designed to help clients across the globe develop and implement long-term plans to manage and archive massive amounts of business information. The announcement will be made at the center’s grand opening in front of more than 200 clients, business partners and local dignitaries in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The archiving and retention of information — including documents, email, video, audio, medical files, etc. — is one of the highest storage growth segments today according to the Enterprise Strategy Group. Worldwide digital archive capacity is expected to increase at a nearly 60 percent compound annual growth rate by 2012 which is an 800 percent total increase in archive capacity over a five year period of time. To address this demand, IBM opened its Global Archive Solutions Center in Mexico’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Under one roof, IBM’s team of archive subject matter consultants can simulate real-world customer environments and present solutions in real time using IBM software and storage technologies.

Today, organizations are facing a sharp increase in the amount of digital content that must be managed with new compliance and discovery requirements. Worldwide file, database and email archive capacity will each skyrocket at an a compound annual growth rate of up to 73 percent — altogether totaling nearly two trillion full filing cabinets of information.

Organizations are looking to keep this data secure, control costs when seeking information and manage risks. Failure to comply with government regulations can cost millions of dollars in fines. As a result, effective management strategies are critical to retain the most important corporate data and identify the most essential technology available in records management, image, email archiving and e-discovery.

With rising energy prices, data centers are also running out of power and space and IBM’s archive solutions are helping clients move to a New Enterprise Data Center model by focusing on best practices for virtualization, energy efficiency, service management, security and cloud computing. With IBM, clients can benefit from blended archive solutions that bring together disk and tape that help enable the rapid deployment of new IT services to support future business growth.

"Incredible data growth is driving the need for data backup, archiving and replication as businesses must protect, recover, and retrieve information. By establishing the first world-class briefing center solely focused on archiving, we are helping organizations manage their information infrastructure in a complete way" said Andy Monshaw, General Manager, IBM System Storage. "IBM is the only company in the world that has the thought leadership, broad base of skills, proven capabilities and technology to deliver a dedicated archive solutions center to our clients that will help them plan, integrate and access their information infrastructure"

Innovations from IBM Research help bring together the industry’s most complete storage solutions. As unstructured and replicated data continue to double year after year, IBM’s Research Centers around the world are working to build systems that manage data for cost, security and compliance through policies controlled by the customer. IBM’s Haifa Research Lab is leading in emerging archive technologies such as long term digital preservation.

International Center, International Investment
The new multi-million dollar Global Archive Solutions Center leverages IBM Guadalajara’s experienced community of technologists and management team. IBM plans to invest more than $10 million US dollars over the next several years in training and infrastructure costs to continue to expand the center.

Guadalajara also known as Mexico’s ‘Silicon Valley’ provides a scenic yet historic backdrop to host international clients. IBM was the first major IT corporation to establish a core presence in the region in 1927. Today, Guadalajara remains a fast growing IT region as a top exporter for electronics and is the manufacturing base for many IBM System Storage products. Following its global workforce strategy, IBM has continued to invest in the region adjusting to the worldwide demands of IT business and continuously building its highly skilled workforce. In 2007, the IT opportunity in Mexico ranked 20th worldwide and second in Latin America, just behind Brazil. IBM is the leading storage vendor in Latin America and remains the external disk leader in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile.

Diverse & Targeted Solutions to Meet Demand
IBM’s systems, software and services featured at the center are enabling SMBs to Enterprise clients achieve their archiving goals.

Absa in South Africa currently utilizes IBM Enterprise Content Management, Tivoli and IBM Optim software as well as IBM hardware to run its vast information infrastructure. Now, the financial institution is working with IBM Global Technology Services to define its total archiving strategy for compliance, business value, and long term digital preservation.

As an independent software vendor, Global Data Vaulting of Canada powers its secure managed archive solution with Tivoli Storage Manager enabling them to provide archiving and data protection services via a software-as-a-service model to small and medium sized businesses.

Through a combination of software, hardware and services, the center will also specialize in delivering health industry storage solutions such as the IBM Grid Medical Archive Solution (GMAS). Iowa Health System and Spectrum Health have implemented IBM System Storage products and software for delivering medical images, patient records and other critical healthcare reference information on demand.

The center aims to become a key resource for IBM Business Partners such as becom Informationssysteme GmbH of Germany which specializes in the IBM System Storage DR550, IBM’s award winning archive and data retention solution. Mainline Information Systems implements a variety of storage archive solutions for its vast client base including Security Service Federal Credit Union which runs its business on the DR550 as well as Tivoli Storage Manager and IBM Content Manager to dramatically boost data storage performance.

IBM Global Services enabled Hansgrohe AG, a global plumbing fixture manufacturer to support compliance with IBM enterprise content management software and IBM storage hardware. The company is now storing and managing its 40,000 daily email volume for up to 10 years in a searchable format.