Surveys by Cisco (Global Cloud Networking Survey) and Storage Magazine / SearchStorage.com (Spring 2012 Purchasing Intentions Survey) reveal that storage is the “most desired application to be moved to the cloud” and that it places an important role in overall storage planning (1). Cloud storage is attractive for many reasons, one of which is costs. SAP cloud storage allows businesses to reduce costs in several ways. Below are just a few.

• Cloud-based data archiving – The cloud is ideal for data archives because it moves data that is rarely accessed out of an expensive production environment complete with high performance disk drives and into an online archive with lower costs. For example, Dolphin’s Content Archive Service for Cloud offers dramatic operational cost savings on a pay-as-you-go basis. At the same time, stored data is readily accessible. This particular solution integrates beautifully with Amazon S3, Rackspace, Google Cloud, and other public cloud service providers.

• Reduced hardware costs – Whether storing primary or archived data online, your costs are further reduced with SAP cloud storage because there’s no need to invest in hardware. for storing your data.

• Reduced IT costs – Like other “as a service” services, SAP cloud storage has a “fast implementation time, providing quick access to functionality” and requires minimal IT resources (2). The service provider handles all operational and maintenance tasks, freeing your IT team to work on other projects and reducing IT costs as a result.

• Pay for what you need – With SAP cloud storage solutions, cloud storage is as flexible as you need it to be. You can scale your storage capacity up or down as needed.

There’s a reason why cloud storage is a top priority among CIOs: Cloud storage allows for convenient, seamless access to stored or archived data at a dramatically lower cost. According to Dolphin Corp, cloud storage may cost as little as 10 percent of traditional, on-premises storage solutions.

Sources:
1. “Cloud is Silver Lining for Archived SAP Data and Documents”, Dolphin
2. “Benefits of the SAP Cloud”, SAP Data Center