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NetApp Helps State Government Agency Implement Private Cloud Architecture to Meet Growing Demand with Fewer Resources While Reducing Costs

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — July 16, 2014 — Rob Salmon, President, NetApp

“The State of California Natural Resources Agency has become the model for how you deploy cloud services in government. Their vision, combined with NetApp’s industry-leading data management portfolio and in collaboration with other virtualization technology partners, is helping a state with the world’s eighth largest economy better manage scarce natural resources during a time when attention to conservation is paramount.”

In 2008, California state agencies faced a severe budget cuts. The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) could no longer afford to support the business without a radical change in its IT service architecture. The California State CIO launched a strategic IT plan to meet growing demand with fewer resources. In response, the CNRA deployed the state’s first internal private cloud built on industry technologies that utilize NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP) storage and became a model for cloud services in government.

The CNRA and its 29 departments are responsible for the management of California’s precious resources from its coastlines to its parks, fish, wildlife, energy sources, and water. The CNRA depends on real-time data access to make informed decisions and respond quickly to disasters such as flood, fire, drought, and earthquakes.

Prior to the deployment of an internal private cloud built on NetApp storage and other industry virtualization technologies, each department in the CNRA was responsible for its own IT infrastructure, resulting in “islands” of disparate and siloed systems. Duplicate equipment and operational management efforts were costly. The time needed to fulfill IT computing service requests could not keep up with the business demands. In addition, departments could not share information to collaborate on matters critical to the agency’s success.

“We were in dire straits. Without a fundamental change in our service architecture, we would have been out of the game,” says Tim Garza, IT director, California Natural Resources Agency. “NetApp understood where we were going, the opportunity with cloud, and delivered the storage technology to enable our vision as a business enabler, not a technology shop. NetApp provided the multi-tenant, share services storage infrastructure and functions to support the increased data demands on resources within our agency.”