STORAGE PAIN POINTS: THE CHANNEL IS OUT OF SYNC WITH CUSTOMER PERCEPTION


July 18, 2007

Customer perspective:

• 'Managing growth and capacity' is the leading customer storage pain point, 33% of total response
• 'Cost' is the second most important storage pain point, 19% of total response

Channel Perspective:

• 'Cost' is the top customer pain point, 23% of total response
• 'Managing growth and capacity' is the second most important customer storage pain point, 19% of total response

A recent survey on customer's storage pain points reveals that the channel is not fully in sync with customer perception.

ONStor, the leading provider of scalable clustered NAS solutions for the enterprise and Zycko, the value-added distributor of best-in-class convergent storage and IP solutions, have been working together to determine the perception of Zycko's resellers on the leading customer pain point from the channel perspective and from their customers in turn.

The results show that from a customer perspective, the biggest storage pain point with 33% is 'managing growth and capacity' whereas the channel believes that cost is the biggest customer pain point with a total of 23% of those resellers surveyed.

The second biggest pain point from a customer perspective was revealed to be 'cost' but from a channel perspective, this was 'managing growth and capacity' concluding that although channel perception is out of sync with customer perception, both have resulted in listing the same top two pain points.

A recent Gartner report on Storage Pain Points highlights that 'cost' is the number one driver of consolidation but that the biggest pain point is the 'rate of change'. The Gartner report backs the survey's customer findings whereas a SNIA Spring 2007 survey, announced at this year's SNW event, highlights 'cost' as the top customer pain point which would agree with the ONStor/Zycko survey channel perspective findings.

The ONStor/Zycko survey also revealed that from a customer perspective, 'lack of desired functions and features' and 'lack of automation for provisioning' were rated as the least important pain point with only 2% rating it as top and 0% of the channel rating 'lack of provisioning' as the top pain point.

"ONStor continues to drive industry leadership with the only storage solution designed to support cost-effective scalability," said Gerald Sommariva, Managing Director ONStor UK. "Our team continues to establish credibility with customers through strong domain expertise around clustered NAS storage and our ability to think unconventionally. At the end of the day, we are honest about what we can provide and our integrity is based on proven, scaleable solutions."

David Galton Fenzi, Group Sales Director, Zycko comments: "Reseller's who focus on the customer's pain points and solving them effectively with cost effective solutions, such as ONStor, will see significant traction within the market place. Zycko is a strong advocate of the solution sale and works with its partners to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to enable them to provide their customers effective IT solutions."

Top 10 customer pain points - channel perspective:

1. Cost - 23%
2. Managing growth capacity � 19%
3. Increasing complexity of the storage infrastructure � 17%
4. Infrastructure management � 13%
5. Justifying expenditures � 9%
6. Lack of integrated or interoperable solutions � 6%
7. Poor service and support � 5%
8. Undelivered promises � 5%
9. Lack of desired functions and features � 3%
10. Lack of automation for provisioning � 0%

Top 10 customer pain points - customer perspective:

1. Managing growth & capacity � 33%
2. Cost � 19% Increasing complexity of the storage infrastructure � 13%
3. Infrastructure management � 10%
4. Justifying expenditures � 8%
5. Undelivered promises � 5%
6. Poor service and support � 5%
7. Lack of integrated or interoperable solutions � 3%
8. Lack of desired functions and features � 2%
9. Lack of automation for provisioning � 2%

NOTES TO EDITORS
About ONStor
ONStor drives down the cost of storage management by delivering scalable clustered NAS that saves enterprises 50 percent on total cost of ownership with systems that let customers start small and scale massively as their requirements grow. ONStor's award-winning Pantera Clustered NAS Systems and Bobcat NAS Gateways consolidate information from multiple Windows, UNIX and Linux devices into a single, highly scalable file storage environment. The open storage architecture allows existing assets to be leveraged, while integrated file server virtualization enables resources to be redeployed quickly to accommodate changing needs. Proven at hundreds of enterprise customer sites, ONStor delivers the cost-effective approach to scalable storage. More information about ONStor can be found at www.onstor.com or by calling toll-free 877-2ON-STOR (877-266-7867).

About Zycko
Zycko is a value-added distributor of best-in-class convergent IP and data storage solutions, ranging from open-system storage architectures to voice and video communications, all sold through a channel of resellers, systems integrators and service providers.
Zycko is privately held and has been profitable since its inception in 2000, when the company�s original charter was to market data networking accessories to resellers as a wholesale distributor. Zycko now employs over 190 staff, serving over 3000 resellers around the world from seven offices on three continents. The company enjoys an annual turnover of more than $120m. Zycko�s provision of cost-effective IT products and logistics management is supported by vital industry services, such as technical support, custom configuration, training and marketing support. These combined factors make Zycko the channel partner of choice. Zycko�s strategic partner base includes world-class companies including: AYC, Avago, Asigra, CommVault, Diligent, Edgewater, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Hitachi Data Systems, Huawei, Intransa, Isilon, MGE, NeoScale, ONStor, Polycom, QLogic, Riverbed, StoreAge and Storewiz.
For more information visit www.zycko.com or contact us at: Zycko Ltd
The Mallards
South Cerney
Cirencester
GL7 5TQ




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For further information, please contact:
Sophie Goodwin/Richard Merrin
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