A long time ago, I worked in real estate lending (yes, it’s been a long, strange trip to storage, but that is another story). In that job, one of the most interesting real estate concepts that I learned and took to heart was “highest and best use.”
As part of the loan process, the property being purchased has to be certified that it will be used for its highest and best use. For example, a single-family house has to be used as a residence. Using the property for a purpose other than its highest and best use would make it less valuable, and therefore, make the loan less secure.
For me, this concept has become a lifelong way to think about how I use my time at work: Is this task my own personal highest and best use? I like to think that if I set my mind to something, I can achieve almost anything over time. If the task is easy, maybe I can even get it done quickly and efficiently. But should I? This approach has always given me a checkpoint that helps me decide whether I should do something myself or not.
Should You Do It Yourself or Get Some Help?
The question of the highest and best use is at the heart of the matter when determining whether or not to use professional services for your IT systems. Because Pure Storage® solutions are designed to be simple and easy from the start, doing it yourself is always an option. And for many IT teams, it’s the best option for installing, configuring, operating, upgrading, and optimizing Pure systems. Plus, Pure1®, our AI-driven data services platform, simplifies systems management.
But should you do it yourself? Could engaging professional services from Pure or a Pure reseller partner enable you and your team to focus on your own highest and best use?
First, consider Pure1. Pure1 powered by Meta® provides predictive data monitoring and management to ensure a higher level of data availability and performance. Pure1 provides a single platform for FlashArray™, FlashBlade®, Pure Cloud Block Store™ in Azure and AWS, and Portworx®. It also provides interfaces for your existing management platforms via our Pure REST API, which offers:
- Centralized setup and monitoring
- Full-stack monitoring with predictive fault analysis and alerting (including audit logs that help with recovery following a ransomware attack)
- Global mobile access via phone-home capabilities
In addition, Pure offers education and certification paths to provide your team with the in-depth knowledge they need to get the most out of Pure1. That said, getting full value from Pure1 is also doable on your own. Many IT organizations leverage Pure1’s robust and intuitive feature set without additional training.
If self-serve isn’t optimal for you, Pure Professional Services and many of our reseller partners offer a range of services that can help your team quickly optimize and start benefiting from Pure1. Your team doesn’t have to shoulder all the work themselves or be Pure experts. Pure offers the following options:
- Business-Critical Services: Gain the advantage of a designated team to help maintain, support, and report on your Pure storage estate. These experts can customize Pure1 reports, based on your schedule and needs.
- Residency Services: Easily add expertise to your team in specific areas of storage technology. This service gives you flexibility as projects or teams need new skills or more resources.
- Advanced Services Workshops: Get your team up to speed on Pure, so they can be more effective faster.
- Pure Migration Services: Leverage proven methodologies and our experts’ extensive experience to reduce risks and ensure your project goes smoothly.
In other words, it likely makes sense to work with our team of storage experts who do this every day, rather than your team who only does this occasionally.
Our experts are certified in Pure Storage systems, including Pure1. For some services, our team becomes familiar with your IT environment and works closely with your IT team, so they know how to deal with the complexities of your IT environment. Whatever is going on in your IT environment, we’ve likely dealt with something similar before and will be able to implement a fix quickly. And if it’s a new issue our team has never seen before, they can work with our engineering teams to find a solution. They can also use Pure AI systems to diagnose problems using data from systems all over the world.
The concept of the highest and best use of your team should be central to your decision whether to engage Pure Professional Services. Ask the following:
- Is your team engaged in revenue generation, cost reduction, or transformation projects?
- Is your team stretched and stressed?
- Is it hard to recruit and train your team on specific technologies?
- How can your team contribute the most to the larger goals of your organization?
By answering these questions, the cost-benefit analysis rises above the cost of the service and takes into account what is best for your team and your organization. And maybe it also makes your own journey easier in the process.
