City of Coquitlam is using the Hitachi Data Systems USP VM. The INI Group interviewed Darren Browett, technical services manager. This is how Darren describes his role: 

“My As technical services manager, aside from day to day operations, I do a lot of the product evaluations for servers, telephones and storage. Because we are a government agency though, we have to follow process. Depending on the size and anticipated cost of the project, we can release an RFP or request a minimum of three quotes from different vendors. For the storage project, I put together a team that comprised the ICT management and consultants. The consultants arranged the demos and the team established the evaluation criteria.”

The following is an overview of the City of Coquitlam’s IT environment:

• One thousand, 200 hundred employees (twenty in Information Communication and Technology - ICT) 
• Seventy servers
• Windows, Linux and AIX 
• Twenty=seven terabytes of storage
• Hitachi Thunder 9570

Listen to individual answers by clicking on the following questions:

1. Why did you decide to implement the Hitachi Data Systems Universal Storage Platform – also know as the USP VM?
2. What was the process that you went through to decide on which storage system to go with?
3. Can you give us examples of how the Hitachi USP VM provided real value to your city?
4. How has the Hitachi USP VM has improved on the overall economic effectiveness within your IT operations?
5. Are there any insights on the USP VM that would be useful for other IT professionals considering this solution?
6. Some IT professionals are skeptical about external storage virtualizatio. What made you decide to implement it?
   
7. What are the next steps using the Hitachi USP VM?
8. Would you recommend the Hitachi USP VM to other IT professionals and can you tell us why?

For more information on Hitachi Data Systems, go to www.hds.com