Study of Catalogic Software Instant Copy Data Management by Wikibon

Wikibon released their study of Catalogic Software‘s Instant Copy Data Management, which quantifies the significant benefits of storage catalog software.

Net benefits areas for Caralog Software for 20 filers (800TB)

(Source: Wikipedia, October 2014)

The study shows that deploying Catalogic’s new software on 20 filers results in aggregate savings that exceed the hardware and maintenance costs of the filers. 

More important, the study points out that Catalogic Software’s platform now enables an enterprise to track the origin, compliance, and accessibility of its data, as well as gain a new ability to re-use copy data wherever it resides in the organization, either on premises or in the cloud. Furthermore, the study shows that enterprises can use this storage catalog to serve as a foundation for workflow automation in order to leverage copy data re-use across a range of business-critical use cases.

The Wikibon evaluation reveals how Catalogic’s ECX platform excels by giving IT administrators visibility, insight and control over NetApp, Inc.‘s and VMware, Inc.‘s data to accelerate time-to-value across storage management, application development and end user productivity. Wikibon recommends as an action item that senior IT executives look at storage catalog software as a strategic data management component.

“One of the greatest operational challenges in modern data centers is copy management,” said Wikibon co-founder and CTO David Floyer. “Having a catalog of these copies decreases overall operational and management costs by 36% or more, in addition to the less tangible benefits of improved provenance traceability, improved auditability and much improved ability to demonstrate compliance.”

The imperative to accelerate time-to-value is driving enterprises to gain control over their copy data. As a result, a new breed of copy data management solutions is emerging as a driver for modern datacenters. IT is constantly making copies of data for multiple purposes: backup, DR, archive, test/dev, analytics and more. ECX provides IT with visibility, insight and control of their data locally, remotely and in the cloud with an actionable catalog.

“Copy data management shows the way forward for clients seeking to extract more value from their infrastructure and improve enterprise data management economics by harnessing the inherent value in NetApp’s data fabric,” said Catalogic Software CEO Ed Walsh. “Wikibon’s evaluation shows that using a single set of tools, a single set of processes and a single catalog can transform data management, leading to improved service levels, compliance, efficiency and productivity.”

A true software-defined infrastructure requires a unified set of tools and processes supported by a comprehensive catalog. ECX instant copy data management software combined with NetApp Data ONTAP and new cloud ONTAP gives IT a copy data management solution that removes the reliance on traditional purpose-built backup appliances (PBBAs). The result: more rapid time-to-value through agile IT, faster DevOps and instant analytics that tap both on-premise and cloud compute and storage resources. ECX platform is designed to manage data access workflows so that NetApp and VMware partners can deliver an integrated and automated enterprise data management solution with the infrastructure their customers already have in place.

“This report confirms the demand we have seen for copy data management technology from our largest NetApp installations. We see a wake up call about the bottom-line business value of software defined storage for enterprise data management,” said Sandra Curran, CFO, HighPoint Solutions, Inc., a New Jersey-based provider of practical IT strategies and solutions to life sciences and healthcare organizations. “These efficiency gains are not just pie in the sky. The tight integration Catalogic has done with its copy data management software platform with NetApp solutions provides clients with a singular approach that enables us to empower our clients with a new wave of data management efficiency that impacts storage managers, developers and end users alike.”

The Wikibon report looked at four key areas of benefit for enterprise data management based on reference architecture of NetApp filers and ECX Instant Copy Data Management software:

• Improved Storage Management by 37%
• Improved Backup Management by 66%
• Improved Access to Data for Developers, QA and Testing by 32%
• Impact of Earlier Time-to-Value for Applications and Updates on Business User Productivity and Value to Business by 32%

Full report Catalog Software Solves Copy Chaos