Symantec, for example, isn't too concerned about wedding storage and IT automation. "If you look at a typical operational team, they are in silos," says Yogesh Agrawal, Symantec's senior director for storage management. He adds that many storage administrators are suspicious of automation and fear a loss of control over key processes.
Symantec's storage automation story is tied to the latest version of the CommandCentral SRM software it launched earlier this month. (See Symantec Scales Up SRM and Symantec Intros CommandCentral 5.0.) Specifically, the vendor added the ability to automatically create, mask, and reassign LUNs. And it added a feature called Process Automation Manager that lets users view the workflows associated with their storage and ensure that SLAs are being met.
EMC, another vendor intent on storage automation, says it's already got all the information required for comprehensive data center monitoring via its Smarts series. Other EMC management tools, like ControlCenter, SANadvisor, and IT Process Centre, can be used to automate various storage processes as well. What remains is to forge better links to products like BladeLogic's.
"Do we have to work together? Absolutely," says Glenn O'Donnell, principal product marketing manager for EMC's resource management products, including Smarts. "It's not as seamless as everyone would like it to be yet." While EMC is linking SRM and IT automation from BladeLogic in custom projects today, he acknowledges a need for better out-of-the-box integration. Still, there is no timeframe for delivery.
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