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Keeping IT Infrastructure Financing Options Open

Although security is among the most common reasons organizations opt to deploy IT on-premise versus the cloud, the decision is more often than not driven by financial rather than technical issues. The simple truth is that many business executives would like to husband their capital by treating IT as an operating expense. However, the dilemma […]

Written By

Michael Vizard

Nov 17, 2014

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Although security is among the most common reasons organizations opt to deploy IT on-premise versus the cloud, the decision is more often than not driven by financial rather than technical issues.

The simple truth is that many business executives would like to husband their capital by treating IT as an operating expense. However, the dilemma many of them have is that, even after they make that decision, the specter of cloud security issues continues to haunt them.

Looking to give those customers the best of both worlds, many vendors have created capacity-on-demand options that allow IT organizations to deploy IT infrastructure on-premise that allows them to pay for it like an operating expense.

One of the latest vendors to embrace that model is Nimble Storage, which has created a utility pricing option for storage that allows customers to pay for storage as it is consumed rather than having to pay up-front for storage systems they might not actually bring online for months.

Gavin Douglas, senior director of strategy and market development at Nimble Storage, said that although IT organizations are happy to use the company’s storage management software in the cloud, they still want to be able to deploy Nimble Storage on-premise. The Nimble Storage on Demand program makes it possible for them to do that using their preferred financing model.

Under the program, Nimble Storage systems can be deployed on-premise or hosted by a solution provider, Douglas said. Rather than having only one arguably archaic pricing option, Douglas said users now have the option to pay for storage on a monthly subscription basis.

Of course, vendors would just as happily have customers pay for IT infrastructure up-front because it strengthens their balance sheets sooner. The good news, however, is that solution providers don’t necessarily have to force the issue; they can let customers decide what financial model works best for them regardless of where the IT infrastructure is actually deployed.

Michael Vizard has been covering IT issues in the enterprise for 25 years as an editor and columnist for publications such as InfoWorld, eWEEK, Baseline, CRN, ComputerWorld and Digital Review.

Michael Vizard

Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a writer for publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight, Channel Insider and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.

Keeping IT Infrastructure Financing Options Open

Michael Vizard

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