Storage Virtualization Emerges . . . Slowly

Storage hardware refreshes and software upgrades are costly and disruptive. Interoperability and organizational challenges lead to islands of low utilization and overly complex management, and communication problems lead to inadequate responsiveness to line of business (LOB) needs. Storage virtualization proposes to alleviate these woes in one fell swoop, but the lack of architectural consensus, combined with scalability issues, hinders current adoption. Enterprises could benefit tremendously from a virtualized storage environment, but should proceed carefully. Selecting an architecture that does not scale well or limits functionality or visibility may compound the problem rather than solve it. Storage directors and senior IT managers should thoroughly explore offerings in labs and in limited pilots to validate the technology and ensure that their needs are competently addressed prior to taking the production plunge.