October 19, 2005—Network Appliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) today announced that SAP achieved significant cost savings—decreasing the total cost of ownership (TCO) by 36%—in its business-critical production environment using NetApp unified storage solutions, according to a recently released study conducted by Mercer Management Consulting (
www.netapp.com/go/sap). Today’s news is another milestone in the SAP and NetApp collaboration and further proof of the natural fit between both companies’ technologies and strategies.
Mercer, one of the world’s premier corporate strategy and operations firms, worked directly with SAP to collect the data and analyze the total cost comparison and benefits of NetApp storage in the SAP solution environment operated and managed by SAP Hosting, a 100% owned subsidiary of SAP.
Key Mercer Study Cost-Savings Findings
- NetApp lowered the TCO by 36%, versus the TCO of the former direct-attached storage (DAS) architecture. This percentage is driven in part by increased IT asset utilization.
- NetApp lowered the ongoing direct internal costs to SAP’s IT department by 49%. This is driven by the ease of management and flexibility provided by NetApp software.
- NetApp lowered the costs associated with scheduled and unscheduled downtime by 34%. This is driven by the NetApp clustered failover architecture, limited maintenance requirements, and fast recovery from any downtime provided by the NetApp Snapshot™ capability.
“Mercer’s research is further evidence of the dramatic cost benefits and superior availability achieved with the advanced functionality of NetApp storage solutions,” said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Products and Partners at Network Appliance, Inc. “The NetApp approach provides simplicity and control over what is innately a complex environment, arming customers with proven tools to achieve a rapid return on investment.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Mercer Management Consulting
As one of the world’s premier corporate strategy and operations firms, Mercer Management Consulting helps leading enterprises develop, build, and operate strong businesses that deliver sustained shareholder value growth.
About Network Appliance
Network Appliance is a world leader in unified storage solutions for today’s data-intensive enterprise. Since its inception in 1992, Network Appliance has delivered technology, product, and partner firsts. Information about Network Appliance™ solutions and services is available at www.netapp.com.
# # #
NetApp and the NetApp logo are registered trademarks and Network Appliance and Snapshot are trademarks of Network Appliance, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.