When selecting a storage automation product, users should look for the following features:
Configuration management database. The configuration management database (CMDB) is the core of a storage automation product. It holds a snapshot of the environment, change control, scheduling and the status of all the processes planned, currently executing and completed.
CMDBs typically include environment information from the application to the storage and everything in between. This information can be stored in a single database or in a federation of subject-oriented databases. The configuration management database doesn't need to be all encompassing, but it must include comprehensive information relevant to the process being automated so that it mirrors the information you currently use to perform the process manually.
The CMDB needs to hold a lot of information, so you'll need to run tests and ask the vendor for benchmarks to provide an efficient, scalable data collection mechanism. One of the initial downfalls of storage resource management (SRM) was its scalability, and the same holds true for these tools. If discovery times are too long or accessing data is very slow, an IT process automation product will be unusable. Make sure that any product you choose can scale to meet your current and future needs.
Finally, not everything can be discovered automatically. For example, asset data, resource owner and resource administrator information may be kept in proprietary databases. Your choice of tool must have the ability to import data from other databases via custom integration modules or APIs.
Operationally focused reporting. Just because all of the data required to perform a management operation is being collected, that doesn't mean the presentation of the data is sufficiently organized for efficient operational execution. Storage resource management (SRM) tools have evolved from device-centric reporting to more operational reporting with analysis and corrective action recommendations. Most automation tools also provide this level of reporting. Make sure that the data needed to complete a task isn't strewn in multiple views or reports. Aggregating these reports manually can be almost as complex and error-prone a task as if you were using multiple tools.
Service portal/dashboard. Every IT process automation tool needs a service portal and dashboard to initiate and monitor requests, and to view a queue of tasks that must be performed. Project managers also need visibility into the status of multiple concurrent projects, and access to historical information to analyze the data for process improvements over time.
Out-of-the-box workflows. Some IT process automation products have rich feature sets that can be used to automate just about any process. They're basically sophisticated programming languages with visual and policy-based logic generators, and extensive interfaces to allow integration with other applications. Theoretically, these tools could automate storage management processes, but significant development is required to integrate them with a storage-aware CMDB and storage management tools. Still, sometimes that's the only way to automate more complex management tasks. Out-of-the-box workflow products tend to focus on simpler processes.
Task automation. When possible, IT process automation tools should automate detailed storage management tasks to simplify jobs such as automatically selecting storage resources for a provisioning task based on policies. Other tasks include validating host access to storage after a storage provisioning operation is complete, ensuring that no configuration problems prevent access to data and diagnosing problems.
This material originally appeared in Storage magazine.
