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NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MIKE KARP
on STORAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE 10/18/01 - Today's focus: Agreeing on the same thing Dear Wincenty Kaminski, In this issue: * Some industry terms are too wide and ambiguous, even in the storage world * Links related to storage * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK? Give us your opinion on 5 different banner advertisements and enter to win $500! Take the Banner Concepts survey at http://www.rresults.com/bannerconcept/index.cgi _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Agreeing on the same thing By Mike Karp Storage Resource Management is a term much like "virtualization" because both have almost as many definitions as there are people talking about the subject. That's why when my friend Anne and I talk to vendors and they bring up the topic of SRM, one of the first questions we typically ask is "What do you mean by SRM?" Now Anne and I are both reasonable people (I much more so than she, of course), so we aren't looking for any particular "right" answer, and the question certainly isn't part of a litmus test. The SRM question is just a way of calibrating the vendor in terms of its outlook on the storage world, and that usually turns out to be a useful exercise for both parties. Sometimes we uncover silliness, but usually we find that the vendors have given at least some critical thought to this subject, and often they are better able to focus the discussion on the subset of SRM that is their company's strength. Sometimes vendors really miss the boat however, and occasionally this takes place in just the wrong forum. At a recent storage conference for instance, one vendor's presentation identified "The Five Aspects of SRM." This quite logically included the topics of backup and archiving. Unfortunately, nowhere in the slide set was there any mention of recovery, which is of course is the only reason for backing up and archiving (unless you are selling tape drives and media, in which case backing up for the sake of backing up makes perfect sense). This point was not lost on the audience sitting in front of me, whose private conversations proved once again what many of you have known all along: towards the end of the day, when hunger increases and the blood sugar lowers, senior IT managers are no kinder than the rest of us. The fix for this sort of thing is both simple and obvious. No writer ever edits his own work. No scientific paper ever goes to press without having undergone a process of peer-review before publication. In like fashion, it makes little sense for products to be planned or for presentations to be brought before the public (or even before the venture capital community) without some sort of critical analysis by a relatively unbiased third party. Analyst firms offer these services, and for smaller companies so do high tech incubators and the various venture capital forums that are still very active in the more technology-centric areas such as Silicon Valley, Cambridge and Austin. Don't like these suggestions? Then at least go to someone within your own company - someone, I might add, who wasn't involved in building the presentation - for a reality check. You may be pleasantly surprised by the insights some of your junior engineers have to offer. Editor's Note: In last week's newsletter headlined "Taking a Swiss approach to storage," the correct reference to NAS is Network-Attached Storage. _______________________________________________________________ To contact Mike Karp: Mike Karp is senior analyst with Enterprise Management Associates (http://www.enterprisemanagement.com) in Boulder, Colo., an analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on enterprise management. He works out of Portsmouth, N.H., and Westboro, Mass., and can be reached via e-mail at mailto:mkarp@enterprisemanagement.com _______________________________________________________________ RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Archive of the Storage newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/stor/index.html _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE Audio Primers Are you behind on the basics of technologies such as ATM, IP Multicast and VPNs? Check out our library of audio primers - quick explanations of networking topics and technologies, including IPv6, SANs and DSL vs. cable. These less-than-10- minute primers will not only explain how these technologies work, but they'll also show you through slides and diagrams. http://www.nwfusion.com/primers/index.html _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply today at http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/nl _______________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/notprinteditnews.asp To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ep To change your e-mail address, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/changeemail.asp Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to this message. Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor, at: mailto:jcaruso@nww.com For advertising information, write Jamie Kalbach, Fusion Sales Manager, at: mailto:jkalbach@nww.com Copyright Network World, Inc., 2001 ------------------------ This message was sent to: vkamins@enron.com
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