David West has served as our Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Business Development since April 2011. Prior to his current role, he served as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development from September 2005 to March 2011, and as our vice president of business development from August 2000 to September 2005.

Prior to joining our company, Mr. West served as a director of strategic alliances from April 1999 to July 2000 and vice president of storage solutions in July 2000 at Legato Systems, Inc., which was subsequently acquired by EMC Corporation.

Prior to joining Legato Systems, Mr. West served as vice president of sales at Intelliguard Software, Inc., which was also subsequently acquired by EMC Corporation, from 1990 to April 1999.

Mr. West obtained his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University.

What is this blog all about?

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

One of my favorite quotes is "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." This old pearl still holds true today as I see companies trying to control their never-ending explosion of data with the same short-term fixes and tired technologies they've used for years. While these legacy systems met their needs when information was measured in megabytes, they're probably incapable of handling today's terabytes and petabytes while keeping pace with data protection, eDiscovery and compliance requirements.

We must stop addressing today's data management challenges in the same old ways. Continuing to do so only perpetuates the insanity that runs through too many organizations while it also drains their budgets.

So welcome to my first blog. The purpose of this space is to offer our community of customers, prospective customers and partners ways to cure–or at least reduce–the insanity with fresh ideas for swifter, more agile responses to data management dilemmas.

On the plus side, there's never been a better time to rethink your data management strategy, as we face a gloomy economy for the near future. Smart IT executives are seriously questioning why they're always buying more hardware, dedicated appliances and multiple software "point products" to cure their out-of-control data growth. When visiting a large Pharma company recently, the CIO there nailed it: "We're not throwing any more band-aids at our backup," he said. "We're going to solve our data management challenges once and for all with the best performing solution that will scale, wring out inefficiencies and reduce our risk." This guy really gets it! He understands that by looking at things differently, it's possible to reduce complexities and costs while elevating data availability, accessibility and reliability.

What's needed is a change–a complete transformation–in how we approach data management. Future blog entries will further explore what happens when IT and business leaders come together with like-minded strategies for improving information sharing and collaboration. Additionally, I'll chronicle how global organizations are replacing silos of information with integrated solutions that ease data management and movement across an entire enterprise.

The future of data management is now. Through real-world examples from forward-thinking companies, we'll share with you a different approach that will help alleviate current data management headaches while enabling companies to better anticipate emerging needs. While some companies may retreat in trying times, strong, innovative ones seize the opportunity to retool and build for the future. Addressing antiquated data management strategies is a great place to start. With "stop the insanity" as my rallying cry, I'll try to illuminate the path to better data management while sharing insights and perspectives along the way.

Again, welcome. If you have feedback along the way, insight you'd like to provide or suggestions on topics to cover in this space, please contact me using the "comment" link below.

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