Unisys Expands Real-Time Infrastructure Portfolio with New Real-Time Storage Metering Solution

RTS metering, which is available to organisations today, is thelatest development in Unisys RTI vision to help businesses create anagile and intelligent infrastructure that can respond more quickly tobusiness changes. By developing a shared set of computing resourcesthat are tuned and sized dynamically and automatically based onbusiness-driven demands, Unisys RTI enables businesses to align theirIT infrastructure with business requirements, and deliver higherperformance at a lower cost.

The new RTS metering solution directly benefits any businessexperiencing sustained growth in storage demand, providing a frameworkto manage storage as a critical business asset. Using RTS metering,businesses are better prepared to manage increasing demand in datastorage and meet regulatory requirements to keep information forlonger; whilst being able to manage cost down and optimise utilisationof key resources. The model is based on enhancing the flexibility andscalability needed by the business through the installation of allanticipated storage capacity upfront(1), allowing storage consumptionto vary up and down but paying only for actual capacity consumed. Inaddition to improving overall IT performance, it also minimises riskby eliminating storage upgrades and downtime, enhancing the securityof business operations.

According to a recent IDC report(2), of over 100 European ITmanagers, the top three priorities for storage in 2006 were identifiedas: the need to improve capacity (34%), improve performance (28%) andreduce recovery time (23%). Through implementing RTS metering,companies can address all these issues - taking advantage of theability to accommodate performance peaks on an ad hoc basis, lowerstorage costs, improve overall business performance and increasesecurity of its business operations. As IT infrastructure downtime isalso reduced, businesses can also offer improved quality of servicelevels to customers and increased operating times.

Martin Hingley, vice president, European Systems Group, IDCcomments, "CIOs face a number of challenges in planning for the futureand the amount of available data and processing capacity will onlyincrease in light of European legislation and the growth of Internetcommerce. Organisations need to investigate how they can bestimplement dynamic IT infrastructures by considering utility modelssuch as metered storage which will allow their businesses to be moreagile and responsive to their needs. The flexible financing element ofmetered solutions also addresses CIOs concerns over cost control asthey can match business overheads to revenue and also charge-back whatis consumed by different parts of the business."

Steve Rawsthorn, Vice President, Unisys Systems & Technology EMEAexplains, "As the need for real-time infrastructure grows, Unisys ishelping clients maximise their IT assets to adapt rapidly anddynamically to changing business requirements. To remain competitive,businesses need to be more flexible, whether it's by increasingcapacity to take into account web site traffic or the need to storedigital media as photos. In particular, financial institutions, whoneed to access information for regulatory and legal reasons, require areal-time infrastructure that will help them manage, use, protect andshare their information assets more efficiently and cost effectively."

Unisys customers are already benefiting from the RTS meteringsolution based on EMC Symmetrix network storage. Eric Shefler, VPMarketing & Sales Engagement, EMEA, EMC says, "Enterprises need tomanage their growing volumes of information more effectively andrespond to the reality that the value of information keeps increasingor decreasing over time, requiring different levels of accessibilityand protection. Unisys customers can benefit from a powerfulcombination of incremental scalability, constant availability andexceptional data mobility achieved through the Real-Time Storagemetering solution."

About Real-Time Infrastructure

The storage concept developed by Unisys forms a part of itsReal-Time Infrastructure (RTI) approach, in which the ITinfrastructure responds directly and dynamically to critical businessprocess requirements and directly contributes to the organisation'ssuccess. This is possible because organisations are able to free upand assign resources more easily at lower costs, to provide end userswith better support and allow for higher availability of theinfrastructure. Moreover, customers with a Real-Time Infrastructureare afforded direct transparency into the activity at various levelsof their organisation. Centred on the RTI concept, Unisys hasdeveloped a large variety of services, tools and targeted solutionsfor which Unisys 3D-VE strategy provides the overarching framework.This approach provides optimal transparency into business processes,allowing for higher security and reliability.

About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide technology services and solutions company.Our consultants apply Unisys expertise in consulting, systemsintegration, outsourcing, infrastructure, and server technology tohelp our clients achieve secure business operations. We build moresecure organisations by creating visibility into clients' businessoperations. Leveraging Unisys 3D Visible Enterprise, we make visiblethe impact of their decisions - ahead of investments, opportunitiesand risks. For more information, visit www.unisys.com

Unisys is a registered trademark of Unisys Corporation. All otherbrands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to betrademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Notes

1. Based on predicted storage requirements over a typical periodof 3-4 years

2. IDC's 2005 European Storage Survey (RS05M)