In preparation for this feature I thought I would Google ‘storage’ just to see what popped up. The results? Storage King, secure container storage, public storage and something called "Smartbox”. Clearly I needed to be more specific, and so, it seems, do CIOs when it comes to their storage decisions.By now, we all know that where and how you choose to store your ever-important and ever-growing accumulation of data is vitally important to the successful functioning of an organisation. Begin with these questions:

1. How do you choose the best vendor for the job?
2. What are the pros and cons of a hosted backup solution?
3. And more importantly, what is a hosted backup solution?

Decisions decisionsGartner outlines that in the present market, there are three key elements that influence storage purchasing decisions (if you’re not thinking about them you might want to start):1)    CostIn an ideal world, storage departments would be able to store more and more data, but at the same cost as what they pay now. While this dream may not be a reality quite yet, new data reduction technologies, such as thin-provisioning techniques, are a good way to reduce the costs of storing data. Hardware technologies, such as SATA and SSD disk, are considered to be the leading solutions that store more data for less cost.2)    Storage managementFor senior management, this refers to the responsibility for everything related to data. For storage managers or  administrators, this often means the everyday management of devices, where the application, context and value of data is unknown.The choice for most organisations to purchase hardware products to solve storage problems is easily justified. Therefore, these solutions are likely to be favoured over storage management processes for managing storage growth.Gartner recommends that storage management should involve capacity planning, performance and availability management, asset management, and using formulised methods when establishing what storage solutions and devices are the most suitable for a company’s infrastructure.3)    Data retentionThis also covers the requirement for archiving and maintaining data integrity. It’s considered best practice to delete any unnecessary data, however processes that uncover what data an organisation has, and its value, have only just recently begun to be implemented.Complex and costly initiatives, such as data classification, are often recommended to solve this problem, hence why archiving is considered to be a more appealing option.E-mail archivingMore storage vendors are now offering e-mail archiving solutions, and most have archiving and mailbox management solutions available. The ideal e-mail archiving solution provides the tools to store all, or even selected e-mail messages, in a centralised area that offers efficient storage and access. There are numerous benefits that come with these solutions, including improved e-mail application performance, improved service for those using it, and more timely responses. By moving old data to an archive backup, recovery times are also significantly reduced."As requirements to store, search and recover old e-mail messages grow, and in the face of increased demand for large mailbox support as users struggle to keep up with increased numbers of messages and larger messages, companies should implement an e-mail archiving solution now,” advises Gartner.When considering an e-mail archiving solution, look for those that come with the added option of archiving files, and other types of content, as this may be useful at a later date.Weighing up a hosted backup solution Adrian De Luca, ANZ Director for Pre-Sales and Solutions at Hitachi, believes that hosted backup solutions are experiencing "a bit of a renaissance”, as it was a common functionality during the 1990s, after which time it took a back seat. "The pervasiveness of networks means organisations can now consider this type of service and it is back on the table again,” says De Luca.According to Arron Patterson, Chief Technology Officer for EMC New Zealand, hosted backup is an area where not many companies do well trying to go it alone. "This is typically seen as a low-value function,” he explains. "People generally feel like they have to do it, and they don’t tend to enjoy spending their time or money on it.” He explains that hosted backup providers are specialists in this field, providing best-of-breed solutions and a level of functionality in a more cost-effective manner.Phil Sargeant, Gartner’s Vice President of storage research, says that because enterprises have very sophisticated systems, they need to consider the cost of doing something on site, as opposed to someone else doing it for them. "All this is determined by how much data and storage they have and how quickly they need to back it up,” Sargeant says. "It’s very important to look at your needs before putting something into place.”De Luca adds to this, pointing out that there needs to be a cost analysis done before implementing any kind of storage backup solution. "Backup is notorious for consuming large amounts of bandwidth, so an organisation needs to look at cost structures, not just services.”Storage virtualisation"It is hard to imagine any storage network without virtualisation,” reads Gartner’s Deploy storage virtualisation to meet business and storage strategy requirements report. While storage virtualisation traditionally has a reputation for being costly, that is not necessarily the case now."In the past, the cost and complexity of virtualisation meant it was not ideally suited for all types of businesses,” says Paul Talbut, General Manager of Operations for the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). "In many cases, the virtualisation is happening without the user even knowing.”The adoption of external storage virtualisation is on the increase. Before deploying this kind of product, an organisation needs to check that the virtualisation appliance is supported by the storage area network management software and that it can properly integrate with every element of the server software.The pros and cons of outsourcingWith the advent and uptake of the cloud, the outsourcing market is changing rapidly. De Luca believes there has definitely been a move to considering outsourcing storage, and states that New Zealand is well equipped when it comes to outsourcing capabilities, far more so than other parts of Asia-Pacific. Traditionally, enterprises in particular have had one or two business-critical workloads and they’ve had to design an entire solution to cover that workload. "One of the bonuses of outsourcing is that it gives you a high level of service and technology for one business critical workload that you previously needed a complete solution for,” explains EMC’s Patterson.Talbut sums it up quite nicely when he states that outsourcing means companies can save costs as they don’t have to manage exponential growth in data storage. The flip side of the argument, however, is the "loss of control and security over sensitive data, and availability when storage administration is placed in the hands of an external party.” Looking at both sides of the coin, it appears to come down to whether more importance is placed on cost reductions or security and control of data.DeduplicationThankfully, this new technology has nothing to do with being duped. ‘Deduplication’ is a big buzzword in the world of storage. It has been maturing, along with expanding data volumes, so more organisations are beginning to deploy reduction technologies on primary data."Most of the information stored on arrays is very predictable,” Patterson says. "This technology means that customers don’t have to buy as much physical capacity, so primary deduplication is a good way of dealing with all of the data companies have now.”Primary deduplication is where the data reduction capability is embedded in to the primary storage platform. Gartner states: "With data growth rates often at 40% to 60%, and more data being retained online, the desire to improve the economics of disk storage is strong. Primary deduplication can lower the total cost of disk by offering beneficial reductions in the number of disk spindles and reduced floor space, electrical and cooling requirements.”Sectors that are very data intensive, such as healthcare, would benefit from such a technology. Organisations with large network shares, particularly with similar files or many redundant copies of the same file, such as office productivity files, could reduce their required storage capacity by factors of three to seven, or even higher.Insider insights"Most CIOs know that information is the crown jewel of their organisation. They understand that if they lose that, it could impact significantly on business,” points out Phil Sargeant. He goes on to say that it’s necessary to have a good "road map” when considering any storage solution, to plan out where a business is going in the future and the solutions that may be necessary for it to get there. "Never underestimate the benefits of investing in services and development,” says Sargeant.An area of storage that requires more focus and investment is backup, according to De Luca. "Unfortunately backup has traditionally been seen as one of those insurance policies that you buy and then put in a back drawer to use if you need it,” he explains. "The complexity of IT infrastructures today means that there is more need to backup, and we are seeing recoveries more often.”He believes that CIOs need to educate themselves with what is on offer. "Today there are technologies that can recover data at a more granular level and they are more usable,” De Luca says.While organisations have been refreshing their technologies and services every few years, and storage every seven years (on average), CIOs also need a "technology refresh”.Vendor choice also plays a role in the acquisition of storage products and services, particularly in New Zealand, where the choice of vendor is thinner on the ground.Sargeant states: "A best practice is to determine the vendor in terms of geography. They could be the best storage vendor in the world but if they don’t have support services in Auckland or Wellington, how much use are they going to be?”Technology is changing rapidly. De Luca puts it well when he says: "These days, vendors  take a buzzword and turn it into a product. CIOs then think that they need, or must have, that product. Current storage performance and efficiency should be assessed before taking that step.”As is the case with many solutions we come across in IT, the cheapest and latest "big thing” may not necessarily be the best fit. Most people we spoke to for this article seemed to agree that for every dollar that is spent on the purchase of a product, there is an extra five dollars for the management of it, and spending less upfront on a storage solution may result in more costs in the long run.