Business Challenge

An education services company was in a bind.  Recent growth and new acquisitions had led to new applications, diminishing data center space, and the need for expanded disaster recovery capabilities.  In addition, a storage area network (SAN) acquired and leased from the manufacturer just 18 months earlier was proving insufficient to meet current demands. The mission-critical nature of the environment, which supported day-to-day customer operations, made it an absolute priority to implement a solution as soon as possible.

The CIO was concerned about how he could find money in his budget to pay for imminently-needed additional storage equipment.  At the same time, he was worried that leasing, which had seemed like a good option 18 months earlier, might have been a mistake after all, locking him into a situation where he would have to “throw good money after bad.”

Solution

Forsythe focused first on the organization’s business drivers, to determine what solution would best meet its needs, and precisely what the required timeframe was.  Forsythe’s storage technology experts and professional services consultants then worked with both the client and the vendors to design a solution and align the resources needed to execute the project.

Based on the technical requirements for supporting and safeguarding the company’s mission-critical application, along with its budget and data center space constraints, Forsythe recommended a best-of-breed, multi-vendor solution.  

As an independent technology lessor with strong manufacturer relationships and substantial expertise in many technologies, Forsythe was also able to work together with company and the equipment manufacturers to replace the existing “captive” lease with a new 36-month lease from Forsythe for the new environment.  

Results

The company has a brand new SAN utilizing the latest technology, additional storage for growth, better disaster recovery capability, twice the performance as before, and increased flexibility, all in the same data center space … and for less money than they were paying before.