Attenda Deploys Seven 3PAR InServ Storage Servers for 300TB

3PAR announced that Attenda Limited, Europe’s leading specialist in operating Internet and enterprise applications, has chosen 3PAR Utility Storage as the storage foundation for its cloud and utility computing-based managed services. 3PAR Utility Storage has given this award-winning cloud computing provider a significant competitive advantage by enabling the consolidation of Attenda’s storage infrastructure for substantial cost savings that Attenda has been able to pass on to its clients.

"From day one Attenda has invested in developing an industry-leading operations platform," said Simon Hansford, VP of Products and Marketing at Attenda. "3PAR Utility Storage provides us with superior business agility and unmatched storage flexibility, whatever our clients’ requests are. It has given us an edge over the competition and has accelerated our time to market while providing a real added value for our clients. In addition, our total cost of ownership is much lower with 3PAR due to the platform’s incredible ease of management combined with reduced power and floor space needs," said Hansford.

To date Attenda has deployed a total of seven 3PAR InServ Storage Servers and nearly 300 terabytes of 3PAR Utility Storage across three locations in London and one in Frankfurt. With next-gen storage from 3PAR, Attenda has built a secure, agile, and resilient storage infrastructure for much lower cost than they could have done with traditional storage. These savings have enabled the managed service provider to gain a competitive advantage through passing substantial cost savings on to clients. Prior to deploying 3PAR, the vast majority of Attenda’s clients required dedicated arrays and associated storage hardware — a much more costly configuration. Since Attenda has consolidated onto 3PAR, all of the provider’s new clients have chosen to use the shared 3PAR Utility Storage infrastructure due to the lower cost and technical advantages such as reliably high performance levels.

Cost savings were a significant factor in Attenda’s decision to deploy 3PAR Utility Storage. However, Attenda also liked the platform’s high degree of availability, security, and interoperability with the cloud computing provider’s existing software and equipment. This includes VMware virtualization products, which Attenda leverages heavily in its datacentres. In fact, over the past year, more than 80% of Attenda’s proposals have included virtual machine deployments. 3PAR’s status as a Premier-level member of the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program and the listing of 3PAR InServ Storage Servers on the VMware ESX SAN/Storage Compatibility List were important qualifications for Attenda, and gave the managed service provider added confidence in deploying 3PAR.

For Attenda, another important 3PAR Utility Storage feature is the platform’s use of virtual machine technology to provide thousands of secure ‘virtual’ arrays within a single InServ. 3PAR Virtual Domains software has done for Attenda’s storage infrastructure what hypervisors have done for its servers. By providing secure administrative segregation of users and hosts, 3PAR Virtual Domains has enabled Attenda to deliver customized, secure, and even ‘self-service’ storage to clients while retaining all of the benefits of storage consolidation. As a result, Attenda has been able to deploy a 100% shared services model that leverages shared processes, people, and technologies while passing the associated cost savings on to clients.

"In today’s economy we are seeing many companies looking to reduce their costs. Outsourcing from providers such as Attenda is one option. These organizations must also remain competitive by reducing their costs while maintaining committed service levels," said Hamish Macarthur, CEO and co-founder of analyst house Macarthur Stroud International. "The advent of the utility computing infrastructure, SaaS, and cloud computing have provided the foundational technologies that make cost savings possible by harnessing the real benefits that can be delivered by virtualization."

"Attenda has embraced the benefits of virtualization technologies and passed those benefits on to its clients," said Tim Pitcher, EMEA Sales Director for 3PAR. "This is a phenomenon that we are seeing with many of our managed service provider customers, and we are extremely excited about adding Attenda to the roster of providers using 3PAR as the storage foundation for their advanced managed services offerings."