CIO Search for Storage Area Network Turns Into Vendor Challenge

CIO Search for Storage Area Network Turns Into Vendor Challenge

When Lodgian Inc. CIO Charlie James was looking to buy a storage area network (SAN) for the first time, he narrowed the choice to two vendors. But then he realized that none of the Atlanta-based hotel IT staff had the expertise to critique the rival offerings. "We didn't have the knowledge base to truly understand the products," he says. "How can we figure out if the product is good or bad?"

So James decided to put both vendors -- EMC and Xiotech -- in a conference room and let them duke it out. "Who knows the other person's product and weaknesses better than their competitors?" he says. James gave each company an hour to make a presentation and an hour to tear up the opposition. EMC dispatched a team of nine. Xiotech sent three people.

"It got heated," he recalls. "They both took it as a challenge. They had never heard something like this being done before. If you don't know a product, it's a good tool. Bring your two finalists into a room, and let them slug it out. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. "

In the end, James went with EMC's SAN for a simple reason: "I thought EMC had better support."

Michael Ybarra is a contributing writer for SearchCIO-Midmarket.com. To comment on this story, email editor@ciodecisions.com.

This was first published in August 2006