Professional Storage Systems Consultant
Considered by many to be one of the most experienced heterogeneous Storage Professionals in the Western USA, I bring 25 years of IT experience to the table across all areas of IT. My Novell, Banyan Vines, Windows and UNIX experience combined with my intimate training in Data Communications, IBM AS400 and mainframe technologies has molded me into a valuable IT Consultant . My storage experience base is with Hitachi Data Systems, EMC and Netapp. I also have extensive IBM, SUN and HP storage system experience including tape library and VTL platforms from the leading vendors.
I have been a Microsoft Professional with MCSE status since 1995 and have over 14 years of Microsoft server platform experience in the enterprise. My Linux and UNIX server platform experience is over 20 years deep and my Virtualization experience over the last 10 years is impressive. I have been a SCO ACE certified engineer since 1993 and boast time as a Novell Unixware Product specialist. I also boast considerable VMWARE Infrastructure 3 and Vsphere experience with many storage platforms.
Enterprise Backup and Restore is one of my core skill areas. I specialize in the three leading Backup and restore solutions from Symantec (Netbackup), Commvault (Simpana) and HP (Data Protector) on all open systems platforms.
My storage environment assessments are legendary in the IT industry. I execute rapid analysis of current state storage deployments in a very accurate manner, with insight that paves the way for new generation storage solutions that are engineered and architected to suit your organization's financial resources. Often new systems are not the solution to the problem and your existing technology may be able to do the job just fine with process maturity and organizational maturity evolution following best practices and industry guidelines in an effective re-architecture and design project. I place your business needs at the top of the priority list, not technology.
Once the assessment phase is complete I focus on Solutions and Blueprints, Corporate Storage Strategy and Roadmaps as well as Cost analysis to enable my customers to realize the massive cost savings I can yield for them. The spend on my services yields a fantastic return on investment. Typical savings yield is from at least $1 million per 40 TB of RAW disk in the average storage environment. Cost avoidance via efficient use of storage, re-tiering and data classification combined with various other methods is the key to achieving this goal.I have a 100% record of success in doing this for my customers to date.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery is another of my specialties and I have many successful BCDR projects under my belt. BCDR is a costly undertaking for most organizations who only wish they had it once disaster has struck. Risk is a key subject of heated discussion and debate and you should spend some time with me to put it into perspective.
My certifications include EMC Technology Architect, HDS Hitachi Certified Architect, Netapp ASAP Certified Architect, Microsoft MCSE, Novell CNE, Cisco CCNA/CCNP and SCO ACE Certification to name but a few.
The quality of the results I deliver is appreciated by all of my customers and repeat business engagements are cyclical and regular in nature. Typically, once I have engaged and executed according to plan I provide oversight advisory services to maintain my clients on the right path. Getting lost in the IT wilderness can get you into the weeds quicker than you would think. My follow up and oversight services help keep the train on the track. I do not just run away to the next engagement and forget about the last one, I have a vested interest in my clients continued success as it ensures mine as well. Before you spend millions of dollars make sure you have a pair of eyes like mine to run a sanity check. I have saved many an IT Director from catastrophic outcomes by vetting imminent IT spend.
SAN Storage Systems
SAN storage platforms I specialize in are Modular storage platforms from EMC and Hitachi as well as Enterprise Storage platforms such as the EMC Symmetrix and Hitachi USP-V series . The CX4 and AMS 2XXX product platforms form the majority of the systems out there that I work with. That includes legacy CX3 and AMS platforms as well. I am the go to guy for an honest look at the pros and cons of each storage manufacturers and determining which will best fit your business needs best.
NAS Platforms
- 90% of my experience in NAS platforms is with Netapp systems.
- I also cover Hitachi HNAS which is BlueArc OEM NAS at it's finest. I have many years experience with EMC Celera as well.
Archiving Platforms
My archiving experience is vast and varied. From hardware platforms manufactured by EMC and Hitachi to software systems from Opentext, IBM and EMC, I have done it all. Specifically for SEC 17-A4 and HIPAA environments. e-discovery tools from Clearwell, Symantec and Zantaz, as well as many others cover the spectrum here for me and I also boast Commvault Simpana experience for email archiving purposes. I understand from past experience with compliance and SOX teams what is required by legal teams and other regulatory bodies for many business sectors.
- EMC Centerra
- HDS HCAP
- IBM DR 550
- HP RISS
SRM Tools
SRM tools are where the cost benefit secret sauce lies with storage systems. People who understand economics and storage like I do can yield impressive results for their customers. It may be serious CPA cost analysis territory but the numbers and the savings do not lie. SRM is the tool that allows you to liberate serious financial resource from your average IT operation. I have had many years of experience working with financial wizards from Coopers and Lybrand and Anderson consulting with all of the major financial software systems out there such as SAP, BAAN, JD Edwards and PeopleSoft. Working with bright financial minds has taught me the finer points of business economics from a profit margin improvement perspective. This is serious territory where very serious numbers are potential liberation candidates that will improve the bottom line of your operation in a significant way..... On top of that you will not be sacrificing technology advantages en route. You can have your cake and eat it if you structure your storage environment properly and select the right solutions for the job.
- Quest Storage Horizon
- Veritas Command Central
- HP APPIQ