What is our primary use case?
We are a manufacturing company with a mixture of physical systems located at manufacturing plants worldwide. We primarily have a presence in AWS for cloud regions where we utilize and integrate NetApp ONTAP.
How has it helped my organization?
The key reason for implementing NetApp ONTAP was full integration globally and cloud connectivity. Prior to moving to NetApp ONTAP, we were all on-prem. With NetApp ONTAP, we have seamless integration with the cloud regions globally.
We were previously struggling internally for DR purposes. We used to replicate data between internal physical locations. With cloud connectivity and seamless connection from on-prem to the cloud utilizing NetApp ONTAP, DR is certainly one of the big challenges that we closed.
What is most valuable?
The single management plane in NetApp ONTAP, with BlueXP and Cloud Insights, is valuable. It allows us to see globally all physical and cloud-hosted systems within one management plane, which is a big plus.
NetApp ONTAP has been easy to use. Compared to our previous Dell products, implementing and integrating NetApp ONTAP has been pretty seamless and relatively easy.
The performance has been very good. As a manufacturing company, we have applications that write literally millions of files to our storage solutions. The capability to provide fast response time has been a big plus.
It is hard to quantify the improvement in the system performance globally. Certain areas of certain systems have improved more than others. On average, there is probably a 20% improvement in efficiency.
The management planes have helped. There is still a lot of work to do. We have been busy migrating data, so we have not fully leveraged all the automation capabilities. At the moment, it would probably be a lower percentage of about 10%, but it could improve as we continue to use it.
NetApp ONTAP has saved about 10% of the time for our staff. There are some capabilities that could expand, but we have only been using it for a year and a half, so we have not fully utilized all the capabilities.
There have been about 20% to 25% cost improvements over our legacy infrastructure.
We were able to realize its benefits pretty much immediately. We have been migrating data for over a year now, but certainly, in those regions where we have implemented it, we could pretty much immediately see the benefits and cost savings.
What needs improvement?
One of the challenges we have is the ability to tag data with ownership for internal billing and chargeback. We have to utilize some third-party tools for that. It would be good if they were integrated with NetApp ONTAP. Everything else is pretty good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using NetApp ONTAP for about a year and a half.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of the solution as nine out of ten. It has been pretty stable. We have had no major issues or big problems, and so far, there has been no downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten. We leverage cloud pooling and tiering of data between on-premises and the cloud.
We have it in multiple locations. We have probably 50 on-prem physical manufacturing locations, and we are connected to four major clouds in the AWS region, one in Singapore, one in London, and two in the US.
We have a global operations team of about 35 people managing the environment. Globally, for file share data, we have more than 60,000 users.
How are customer service and support?
We have raised some cases, and the support has been pretty good. I would rate them a nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we used all Dell products such as VMAX, PowerMax, VNX, Isilon, and Unity. We switched to NetApp ONTAP for better cloud integration and to make connectivity and integration more seamless. Like most others, we were moving on-prem data to the cloud. NetApp ONTAP as a solution made connectivity and integration a lot more seamless than the legacy Dell products we were using.
How was the initial setup?
We have a hybrid deployment model. The initial setup was pretty quick and straightforward. We did not have any issues.
Implementing it was pretty quick. Setting it up and getting it configured was almost instantaneous. The biggest challenge was our infrastructure. We had to open firewall ports between on-prem and the cloud and also migrate data. Migrating data over WAN links was a big challenge, but that was outside of the actual setup of NetApp ONTAP, which was pretty quick and easy.
In terms of maintenance, we have a contract with Infosys to provide operational support. They handle day-to-day operations, and there have been no issues or challenges.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return has been on cost financials. We have seen some significant financial improvements with moving to NetApp ONTAP and some efficiencies in terms of operational support. Cost-wise, there are about 25% savings, and operations-wise, there is about 10% efficiency.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It has been cost-efficient. Compared to our legacy Dell infrastructure, we have realized cost savings. It is good.
What other advice do I have?
I would certainly recommend NetApp ONTAP for its cost efficiency and ease of use. With the management planes, it is easy to set up, configure, and integrate.
I would rate NetApp ONTAP a nine out of ten.