IT cost reduction objectives are upon us again, and every infrastructure manager knows that the data growth crisis is not only real, it is growing exponentially every day. The impact is severe because data growth 1) degrades the performance of production databases and file servers, 2) drives hardware upgrade requirements, 3) creates availability challenges during upgrade cycles 4) exposes the organization to legal liabilities, and 5) exacerbates the challenges of consumer data privacy and compliance. At the end of the day, IT cost is directly proportional to the amount of data under management. (more)