New Softek Service Evaluates Storage

The Softek Storage Health Assessment program includes tools, reports and step-by-step procedures to evaluate storage networks, said Erna Arnesen, vice president

of worldwide channels at the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company, formerly known as Fujitsu Softek.

The program, based on the company's Softek Storage Manager storage resource management (SRM) application, allows solution providers to do a onetime snapshot of a client's storage network structure, Arnesen said. Solution providers can use information from the snapshot for recommendations to customers on how to better manage their storage networks, she said. This may include a deeper audit of the customer's infrastructure, including an analysis of utilization and future capacity issues.

The software used in the program is the same SRM application that's found in Softek Storage Manager but optimized for a onetime assessment of the infrastructure, Arnesen said. Solution providers can use the application for free on a onetime basis per client, and in turn can provide the assessment to their customers for a fee or for free, she said.

The Storage Health Assessment service was developed as a result of input that Softek and its solution providers received from end users, said Don James, executive vice president of sales and marketing at FusionStorm, a solution provider in San Francisco.

Most customers have few details about what they have and don't have in their storage infrastructures, James said. "With the snapshot, they can get at least a point-in-time look at their infrastructure," he said.

Such a snapshot could lead to more service and sales opportunities, depending on the results, he said. "It could lead to more services revenue, or if we find a customer is already utilizing 92 percent of capacity, it could mean more storage product sales."