Even Nonprofits Need to Innovate During Tough Economic Times
As the economy continues to flounder, many corporations and households are forced to cut back on philanthropy efforts. Uncertainty, layoffs, and salary reductions cut to the core as people are forced to first and foremost protect and preserve their own interests. The irony is that as these cuts are made, many nonprofits are, at this time, in high demand to provide services for those most in need. Yet it is just when that there is the greatest demand for a nonprofit's resources and volunteers that they are also having to reduce staff, activities and outreach.
While there are many uncertainties for nonprofits during these times it is in no means a time to sit idle as, in many respects, nonprofit organizations play by the same sets of rules as for-profit organizations. Taking a look at their current technology infrastructure, processes and management, with an eye on budget, can help them find new and innovative ways to spend limited contributions which in turn helps them actually do more. Plus with limited human resources, nonprofits must be exceptionally careful with diving into what seems like the right technology but could be costly to support.
One nonprofit service recently discovered a way to deliver on the best of both worlds. Recently TechSoup Global, a recognized leader in bringing technological empowerment and philanthropy to social benefit organizations across the world, decided to re-build its data center utilizing consolidation and virtualization. This solution was an implementation of the 3cV blueprint, which combines 3PAR Utility Storage with products from HP and VMware to create a complete utility computing environment and has been proven to halve server, storage and operational costs.
To simplify its previous infrastructure, which relied on expensive and inefficient direct attached storage (DAS), TechSoup Global deployed two 3PAR InServ E200 Storage Servers for their two data center locations. Since its entire donation program is managed online through the TechSoup.org Website, 3PAR's Utility Storage enabled them to build a resilient, high-performance storage infrastructure that would enable future scalability while keeping costs to a minimum.
Tim Suttle, Director of Information Systems Infrastructure for TechSoup Global, noted that the other platforms TechSoup looked at had serious drawbacks such as complex management interfaces, inability to stand by performance numbers, and lack of fully-developed thin provisioning capabilities. "3PAR is the innovator of thin provisioning and although other vendors are now trying to catch up, they just can't match 3PAR," says Suttle.
Initial consolidation efforts with the TechSoup's virtualized infrastructure consolidated 18 servers into 4, provided a 72% reduction in data center power consumption, helped avoid a $40,000 cost on HVAC upgrade, and saved $24,600 in annual server administration. But probably the most impressive numbers, by lowering their own IT costs, TechSoup Global was able to deliver an estimated $312 million in annualized IT savings to other nonprofits in more than 190 countries.
All organizations need to be more conscientious about the quantity, type and value of the storage that they acquire--looking for innovative products and features that will allow them to do more with less. Innovative technologies such as cloud computing, SaaS, utility computing, managed services and thin provisioning can all play key roles as these pay-as-you-go services provide lower up-front costs, enable IT to respond more quickly and add new features without needing to invest in new hardware. Looking to companies like 3PAR, for features such as utility storage and thin provisioning offers IT management a "utility" storage array platform that reduces the cost, complexity, and risks associated with deploying and managing a storage infrastructure yet provides virtual capacity to applications that eliminates the over-purchasing and over-allocating of storage resources.
While there are many uncertainties for nonprofits during these times it is in no means a time to sit idle as, in many respects, nonprofit organizations play by the same sets of rules as for-profit organizations. Taking a look at their current technology infrastructure, processes and management, with an eye on budget, can help them find new and innovative ways to spend limited contributions which in turn helps them actually do more. Plus with limited human resources, nonprofits must be exceptionally careful with diving into what seems like the right technology but could be costly to support.
One nonprofit service recently discovered a way to deliver on the best of both worlds. Recently TechSoup Global, a recognized leader in bringing technological empowerment and philanthropy to social benefit organizations across the world, decided to re-build its data center utilizing consolidation and virtualization. This solution was an implementation of the 3cV blueprint, which combines 3PAR Utility Storage with products from HP and VMware to create a complete utility computing environment and has been proven to halve server, storage and operational costs.
To simplify its previous infrastructure, which relied on expensive and inefficient direct attached storage (DAS), TechSoup Global deployed two 3PAR InServ E200 Storage Servers for their two data center locations. Since its entire donation program is managed online through the TechSoup.org Website, 3PAR's Utility Storage enabled them to build a resilient, high-performance storage infrastructure that would enable future scalability while keeping costs to a minimum.
Tim Suttle, Director of Information Systems Infrastructure for TechSoup Global, noted that the other platforms TechSoup looked at had serious drawbacks such as complex management interfaces, inability to stand by performance numbers, and lack of fully-developed thin provisioning capabilities. "3PAR is the innovator of thin provisioning and although other vendors are now trying to catch up, they just can't match 3PAR," says Suttle.
Initial consolidation efforts with the TechSoup's virtualized infrastructure consolidated 18 servers into 4, provided a 72% reduction in data center power consumption, helped avoid a $40,000 cost on HVAC upgrade, and saved $24,600 in annual server administration. But probably the most impressive numbers, by lowering their own IT costs, TechSoup Global was able to deliver an estimated $312 million in annualized IT savings to other nonprofits in more than 190 countries.
All organizations need to be more conscientious about the quantity, type and value of the storage that they acquire--looking for innovative products and features that will allow them to do more with less. Innovative technologies such as cloud computing, SaaS, utility computing, managed services and thin provisioning can all play key roles as these pay-as-you-go services provide lower up-front costs, enable IT to respond more quickly and add new features without needing to invest in new hardware. Looking to companies like 3PAR, for features such as utility storage and thin provisioning offers IT management a "utility" storage array platform that reduces the cost, complexity, and risks associated with deploying and managing a storage infrastructure yet provides virtual capacity to applications that eliminates the over-purchasing and over-allocating of storage resources.
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