Flexibility. The best decision today may look different later when other challenges or opportunities arise. Businesses should look for solutions that support multiple technologies, not just a single, proprietary approach. Solutions should be intuitive and should simplify complexity, giving staff the options they need to manage data as conditions change. In addition, flexibility and simplicity keep operational and maintenance costs low and reduce the risk of human error.

Growth. Data protection is never static. Businesses grow, and data grows at an even faster pace. Data protection solutions should be geared toward the future, not only providing adequate capacity today and in the short-term, but also offering easy scalability for the long term. Modular components ensure that a business can never outgrow their solution. In addition, technology with a proven track record into the past and a well-defined development road map into the future provides assurance that today's investment will provide value over time.

Value. No data protection solution is adequate if there are interoperability uncertainties, interruptions to business operations, unsustainable costs or performance level flaws. Companies need to work in close partnership with the solution provider to determine what system can meet their risk needs and service level tolerance. Look for a vendor who can develop a dollar-for-dollar comparison of technology investment alternatives that manage risk appropriately.

In our experience, automated tape libraries most often are the answer when these four value propositions are considered. They provide reliability, flexibility and growth opportunity at a reasonable investment and operational cost. Suitable in any information technology infrastructure, the newest automated tape libraries support pay-as-you-need value and simplified, enterprise-level growth - all while minimizing risk and maximizing return on investment. And for an industry that knows all about risk, automated tape libraries offer insurance against the unpredictable and unforeseeable, protecting the data that is the lifeblood of every business today.


In the insurance industry today, the decision is not whether to protect data, but "how." And while the array of choices may seem complex, the above guidelines should make the decision about how to protect data much more simple than it first appears.



Quantum is exhibiting its line of storage solutions at Storage Expo, the United Kingdom's largest dedicated data storage event designed to deliver the latest storage products on the market to more than 3,000 end users. The event is at Olympia in London from 15-16 October 2003. For more details, see www.storage-expo.com.