Compellent Customer Council (C3) Meets to Discuss Storage and IT Trends for 2008October 25, 2007
Group Gathers for 12th Time to Provide Input on Product Direction
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., October 25, 2007 — Compellent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Arca: CML) today welcomed its Compellent Customer Council (C3) for the 12th meeting of the group since the company was founded five years ago. Of the attendees, 70 percent are virtualizing both storage and servers; 80 percent are simplifying data classification with automated tiered storage; and 95 percent have been able to improve capacity utilization or lower operating costs without adding IT staff.
“As always, we are thrilled to have our customers join us to talk about where they see IT trends emerging, and how our Compellent networked storage solution can continue to play a key role in their IT strategy,” said Phil Soran, co-founder and CEO of Compellent. “This was a good working meeting, and we got the same high-quality input we always do from this vocal and valuable group.”
At this meeting, dozens of customers had the chance to provide input on product direction, lend insight and perspective to Compellent, and identify trends in their data centers moving into 2008. Up for discussion were several key trends, including: automated tiered storage, measuring total cost of ownership, and the virtualization of the data center – and the resulting lowered power and cooling requirements. Compellent executives and product architects participated in the meeting with the C3, to ensure that customer input is heard and acted upon.
“The role of CIO or CTO is only getting more complex – and as the data center continues to evolve, and budgets continue to be scrutinized for excess, I need to find ways to identify the technology advances that will enable OfficeWare to grow its business,” noted attendee and CTO of OfficeWare, Chris Resch. “For us, virtualization and automated tiered storage are two key trends that will continue to play a critical role in our IT and storage strategy in 2008.”
The C3 met for one day, and the sessions included ample time for customers and company executives to share ideas and observations about enterprise storage in the real world.
“I find these meetings to be incredibly helpful to me as a Compellent customer – I feel empowered to speak up about features that will make my life easier,” said Perry Mulchrone, deputy CIO of Scott County, Minn. “We leverage virtualization extensively now, thanks to our Compellent storage solution, and we expect to continue to innovate our data center moving into 2008 with Compellent.”
Compellent Customer Council (C3)
Compellent’s leaders recognized a tremendous opportunity to provide SANs to mid-market companies who have the same storage needs as larger enterprises, but fewer staff and resources. To deliver an easier, more cost-effective way for small and midsize businesses to store, manage and recover their data, Compellent collaborated with dozens of end users early in the product’s development. The collaboration resulted in the formation of the Compellent Customer Council (C3), a group that still provides product direction today. Compellent formalized its interactive product development strategy in early 2003 by involving dozens of business partners and customers in structured meetings to provide input on the design and development of Compellent’s product and support offerings. This visionary strategy continues to drive technology innovation within Compellent’s storage solutions.
About Compellent
Compellent is a leading provider of enterprise-class network storage solutions that are highly scalable, feature-rich and designed to be easy to use and cost effective. Compellent Technologies’ principal offices are located in Eden Prairie, Minn. For more information, please visit: http://www.compellent.com.
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