NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP vs. Verizon Cloud

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP was well suited to begin our journey to cloud storage as a service. The ease and intuitiveness of the product to enable our administrators to design, configure, and deploy the storage in a hybrid cloud environment was instrumental to the success and the early adoption of the service.

I think this service works very well for me, but I have been a Verizon customer for almost 15 years. If you are someone who hops carriers it may not be the best fit. I also like that you can easily use it with all of your employees regardless if they prefer Android or Apple phones. (Whereas using Apple's or Google's services may not work seamlessly for all phones.) I think it still has room for improvement, and sometimes I worry about the longevity of utilization due to the nature of cell phone carriers constantly changing prices, plans, and every option under the sun to make a buck that we could be very screwed in the future if Verizon does something stupid (because historically, they all have)

• Simplicity
• Flexibility
• Cost savings

• Auto-Sync of files or contacts to the cloud that are chosen to be auto-synced.
• Has the ability to turn off auto-sync and allow only manual sync.
• Stores files and contacts in the cloud for later recovery in case of a data loss.

• More competitive pricing at lower volumes of storage
• Make it possible to manage storage across hybrid and multiple cloud environments

• The home screen shows a little bit of everything, but being a control freak, I would like to be able to customize it. (Granted, it would most likely have most of the same elements, but, for example, I don't need photos scrolling across the top. I'd rather have buttons like quick links to jump directly to what I want or to see a further bird's eye view of the content.
• I like receiving notifications that a back-up is complete, but I would like to be able to set what other notifications are and aren't allowed to push to my phone.
• I have set Verizon Cloud to back up on wifi OR using the data network. But if you are using wifi while doing a content restore and you lose that connection, either by leaving the building or the local wifi dropping out momentarily, the entire content restore will stop and need to be restarted. This can be very frustrating.

We utilized NetApp remote Professional Services to assist in our deployment and also engaged support since the deployment for assistance regarding some networking concerns. NetApp support was surprisingly quick to reply and very proactive in resolving our concerns much quicker than other support personnel from many of our other vendors we use. No complaints about NetApp support at this time.

ScienceLogic SL1 and SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor (SRM) were the closest competitors to meeting our business objectives. Tivoli Storage Manager was not able to meet the initial requirements. There was a significant overlap of capabilities between ScienceLogic SL1, SolarWinds SRM, and NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP. The latter provided a more positive and cohesive experience for our administrators and executives.

All of the others provide more free storage. Verizon should out best or at least equal the best when you are already a Verizon data subscriber. It seems that by not doing this that they want to "nickle-and-dime" their already loyal customer base

• Not really any noticeable impact yet
• We are utilizing the free tier that is provided as a promotion with current systems
• It remains to be seen if it will continue to be enough value to renew the subscription

• Thus far is has been a positive experience, and has saved a lot of man hours of both employees who replaced their phones to the IT department trying to help them put everything back no longer needs to go through a lengthy process.
• The cost of this option is a bit higher than I'd like. I think Verizon is a little too proud of a product that every company is now starting to offer.
• There is a free version with limited space, so at least trying it out to see how it will fit with your needs isn't much of a risk.