The News:
NetApp is furthering its commitment to sustainability with a number of announcements that aim to assist customers optimize their power efficiency and meet their environmental goals. These announcements include a new power efficiency SLA for NetApp Keystone, new pre-sales tools to optimize power efficiency, sustainability scoring information provided by BlueXP, and the use of more efficient Titanium rated power supplies.
Evaluator Group Take:
Power Efficient Deployments – Traditional CAPEX and as a Service
NetApp has announced capabilities to assist customers in optimizing their deployments to meet their internal environmental goals, regardless of whether the customer is making a traditional purchase, or consuming products through a Keystone service model.
For traditional purchasing, NetApp has made it clear that it is moving power efficiency and sustainability to the front of the purchasing processing by creating new pre-sales tools that incorporate sustainability data alongside the traditional metrics such as performance, capacity, and cost. This will help NetApp customers to purchase the correct solutions to meet their internal sustainability goals.
In Keystone deployments however, the customer is purchasing a service or an outcome, rather than a specific product. By offering a new power efficiency SLA, Keystone customers can be assured that the service they are purchasing will meet an expected power efficiency, as outlined in the SLA.
These two sustainability focused initiatives provide NetApp customers an ability to scope their purchase based on the power efficiency of the solution, whether it is for a traditional purchase, or a Keystone engagement. These are positive steps that provide customers clarity and transparency around sustainability, to help them make informed decisions in their purchasing process.
Sustainability Insights with BlueXP
NetApp has also announced that its BlueXP data management tool will receive new sustainability focused features that will give users greater insights into their environmental impact and carbon footprint. BlueXP is being bolstered with a sustainability dashboard that provides information on power, heat, and carbon usage across their data environment, as well as an overall sustainability score. The solution will also provide recommended actions to help organizations improve their score and reduce their carbon footprint.
This functionality adds tremendous value to NetApp’s BlueXP and adds a new environmental dimension to data management. As IT begins to place more focus on meeting sustainability goals, this type of monitoring across the entire data estate will be key to understanding if such goals are actually being met, and what actions can be taken for improvement. Evaluator Group sees this functionality as being a crucial tool for IT organizations to view, improve, and maintain the sustainability of their BlueXP connected solutions.
More Efficient Hardware – Titanium Rated Power Supplies
Power supplies in NetApp systems are also being upgraded to provide greater power efficiency. Certain models across NetApp’s AFF, FAS, EF, and StorageGrid products will currently shipping with energy efficient Titanium rated power supplies. NetApp has also stated that the rest of their products will be receiving these upgraded power supplies over time. The Titanium-rated power supplies provided added efficiency capability over previous Platinum-rated components and additionally help meet new EU regulations.
EG Takeaway – A Well Rounded Approach
NetApp has been increasingly vocal about sustainability over the past year, and Evaluator Group believes this will only continue. What the latest announcements have demonstrated, is NetApp is taking a well-rounded approach to provide a focus on sustainability from multiple angles. Sustainability is being built into early stages of the purchasing and planning process with new sales tools and into SLA guarantees included in Keystone. NetApp customers can further hone in on their environmental impact by utilizing the sustainability information displayed to them in their BlueXP dashboard, and take action to further reduce their carbon footprint. And finally, NetApp is showing their commitment to build products that utilize power efficient and complaint components such as Titanium-rated power supplies. Sustainability as a goal requires a layered approach, and NetApp is assisting its customers in this effort with a more sustainability focused sales approach, more efficient hardware, and greater environmental insights.
For More Information:
Access Evaluator Group’s NetApp AFF, BlueXP, and Keystone product briefs and SAN and NAS EvaluScale Comparison Matrices on http://evaluatorgroup.com.
Disclosure: Evaluator Group, wholly owned by The Futurum Group, is a research and analyst firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article. Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually.
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