Mainframes processes millions of transactions per minute for mobile app users. Given the time sensitivity of ecommerce, how do you back up that data quickly so that you can restore it in the event of a problem? BMC Software developed a real-time replication solution with a simple value proposition: For 1% of the cost of hardware backup, the new product would deliver 10x the performance of competitive software backup solutions, at performance approaching that of hardware backup.
Before starting development, BMC asked BizDev.Global to validate this value proposition with customers. We talked to CIOs and IT managers with substantial mainframe investments, to understand their data backup strategies and needs.
Backup Isn’t The Problem
The new product’s value proposition hinged on two assumptions:
Mainframe backup was a complex and risky process
Customers wanted a faster backup solution
Although the first assumption seemed obvious, customers immediately pushed back: The hard part was not backing up the data; instead it was restoring the data after a disaster. When a large transaction system goes down, the biggest problem is synchronizing the state of the backup into the rest of the network. Restoration required hundreds of steps in order to bring online a new, fully-functional processing system. Mainframe users measured their downtime in millions of dollars of lost transactions per hour, so they wanted faster system restoration, and they were willing to pay for it.
Lessons Learned
BMC ultimately abandoned the faster backup solution, opting instead to develop an accelerated data restoration product. BizDev.Global proved to them that blindly following the performance curve does not always result in products that customers want to buy.
If you’ve encountered a similar situation, contact BizDev.Global, we’d love to hear about it!
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