TeamKCI Blog: Brocade® Confusion

Brocade^® Blog by Jeff Klein

“A sales restructuring at Brocade^® Communications has added confusion and delay to the storage and networking vendor’s field engagement model, making it difficult for solution providers to close deals and, in some cases, causing them to move business to rival vendors, partners told CRN.”

“We feel like we’re getting into the homestretch right now of a very disruptive year…“, Brocade^® Channel Chief Sandra Glasser Cheek added.

And, all this was before the closing date for the Brocade^® acquisition by Broadcom was moved back from early third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2017.

If you have doubts about your coverage we’d like to recommend that you call TeamKCI. In addition to our Brocade^® Hardware Sales, we’re tracking the Brocade^®/Broadcom merger and divestiture and stand ready to guide you through the pitfalls of what is turning into a sticky and oft times confusing realignment. Call us to discuss the latest developments and find out your best strategies to keep your equipment covered until the merger is completed.

Other Articles to Read: Brocade^® Introduces Generation 7

It all began benignly in November 2016 when chip maker Broadcom, Ltd, agreed to buy Brocade^® Communications Systems, Inc. for $5.9 B. Brocade^® a leading manufacturer of Data Center, Campus Network and Ethernet switches is best known as the leading manufacturer of fiber channel SAN switches and directors. Brocade^® claims that 90% of the world’s 1000 largest companies use Brocade^® products in their SANs.

Broadcom’s said its interest in Brocade^® was limited to Brocade^®’s fiber channel Storage Area Network (SAN) business. Perhaps true but Broadcom, the largest manufacturer of chips for Cisco^® Systems, made sure to announce simultaneous with the Brocade^® acquisition that it intended to sell off the IP networking segment of Brocade^®’s business along with other non SAN related platforms in order not to be in conflict with Cisco^®. Recent quarterly numbers show that fiber channel SAN comprised roughly 60% of Brocade^®’s revenue while IP networking products made up the remaining 40%.

Other Articles to Read: Brocade^® Has announced EOL Data Center Fabric Manager

Broadcom has also agreed to wall off the divisions that make ASICs for Brocade^® from the division making ASICs for Cisco^® to avoid conflicts of interest.

Brocade^®’s Ethernet networking business was built primarily on the acquisition of Foundry Networks in 2008 and the organic expansion of Foundry product lines from 2008 to 2016. Brocade^® expanded into wireless networking with the acquisition of Ruckus Wireless in 2015.

On February 22, 2017 Brocade^®/Broadcom agreed to sell the former Ruckus Wireless unit that Brocade^® had acquired in 2015 to the Arris Group, an American company that provides cable operators with high speed data, video and telephony systems for home and business. Also included in the deal was Brocade^®’s ICX campus switching line of products which Brocade^® once called “the next-generation” of IP networks.

Other Articles to Read: EOL alert Brocade^® DCX 8510 blog article page

Followed on March 29, 2017 when Broadcom announced that it sold its data center switching, routing, and analytics business to Extreme Networks™, Inc. (EXTR) a company that itself has been involved in a raft of acquisitions recently.

Broadcom then sold Brocade^®’s Virtual Traffic Manager, (formerly known as the SteelApp Traffic Manager) to F5 as part of further divestiture of its IP product lines.

Other product line sales include the Vyatta and vRouter products to AT&T.  Its Virtual ADC product to Pulse Secure. And, its Connectem product to Mavenir.  In an unusual move, Brocade^® is spinning off its SDN controller to a new startup called Lumina Networks.  And lastly, Brocade^® sold off its Federal maintenance group to Hitachi Data Systems Federal.

Seem confusing? Ponder this: even Broadcom is not really Broadcom.  A little more than a year ago Avago Technologies agreed to acquire Broadcom; then took the Broadcom name for itself. But Broadcom still goes by the Avago ticker symbol (AVGO) on the NASDAQ. Prior to acquiring Broadcom the Avago management team had made a half-dozen acquisitions of technology companies including Emulex and LSI.

The chip industry has had a wave of acquisitions recently. Industry analysts point to more than $100 billion in deals in the last two years.  Just following all of these moves is exhausting.

Other Articles to Read: NY State Passes Right to Repair Bill

So while we are all waiting for the Brocade^®/Broadcom merger to sort itself out feel free to call TeamKCI.  We’re tracking the Brocade^®/Broadcom merger and will gladly discuss developments and provide guidance as merger details continue to evolve. For solid advice to guide your Brocade^® and Foundry strategy call TeamKCI. We’ve been following the switch business for the last 35 years!
We maintain all Brocade equipment including Brocade^® 6510, Brocade^® 300, Brocade^® 7600, Brocade^® 6505, Brocade^® FC16 48, Brocade 5300, Brocade^® DCX 8510 Backbone.

Disclaimer:

KCI, Inc (dba TeamKCI) is the industry leader in premier Third-Party maintenance support. TeamKCI is not an authorized reseller, distributor, partner of nor an affiliate of any Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or related to any manufacturer’s authorized service center. All offers for maintenance support are from our world-wide award winning support group not the OEM. All trademarks, service marks, logos remain the property of the corresponding company. All rights reserved. 

Brocade^®is the registered trademark of Broadcom Inc.

Your Brocade^® DCX is Now 2 Generations Back

Are you still paying full price for maintenance?

TeamKCI, America’s leading Brocade^® third party maintenance provider, is now offering DCX maintenance at 75% off the Brocade^® list.

The DCX, once Brocade^®‘s flagship SAN director, was designated End-of-Life on May 15, 2014 and it will go End-of-Support on November 14, 2019.

While the manufacturer is winding down DCX support, here is a great way to save 75%. Simply let TeamKCI support your older Brocade^® SAN equipment.

Why should you trust TeamKCI with your SAN?

• We are Brocade^® subject matter experts.
• We offer the highest quality Brocade^® service.
• We store a complete complement of spare parts on your premises.
• We provide access to a technical specialist trained on the Brocade^® DCX within 15 minutes of making a service request.
• Four-hour onsite response time.
• 75% off the manufacturer’s list price.
• And we won’t raise your rates 10% per year like the manufacturer does

We not only maintain the Brocade^® DCX, we also maintain all badged versions of the Brocade^® DCX sold by:
• EMC^® ED-DCX-B
• HPE^® DCX Backbone
• HDS DCX
• NetApp^® DCX

Save now to help pay for your next infrastructure upgrade. Call, email or go to our website, TeamKCI.com, and we’ll start covering your DCX immediately.

Brocade® 7500 Reaches End-of-Support

The Brocade^® 7500 extension switch will reach End-of-Support on August 15, 2016 (see announcement). After which this widely popular SAN extension switch will no longer be supported by Brocade^®.

As Brocade^® support ends you have several alternatives:

• Rush out and buy Brocade^®’s latest extension switch the 7840; but the 7840 is expensive and you may not have any CapEx budget for it.
• Buy the somewhat newer Brocade^® 7800 extension switch; but why change one extension switch for another when your current switch is working fine?
  Ask TeamKCI to maintain your Brocade^® 7500.With TeamKCI support for your 7500 you don’t have to make any new capital expenditures or rip and replace a switch that is doing its job. Plus our rates are well below what you are now paying Brocade^®. We offer low cost support without sacrificing quality. And unlike other third-party maintenance providers we are true Brocade^® subject matter experts. We can even help with software issues or re-configuration.Don’t let support for your critical infrastructure lapse. Call, email or follow this link for a same day quote on any Brocade^® 7500 extension switch or for a maintenance quote on any other Brocade^® product.

Disclaimer:

KCI, Inc (dba TeamKCI) is the industry leader in premier Third-Party maintenance support. TeamKCI is not an authorized reseller, distributor, partner of nor an affiliate of any Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or related to any manufacturer’s authorized service center. All offers for maintenance support are from our world-wide award winning support group not the OEM. All trademarks, service marks, logos remain the property of the corresponding company. All rights reserved. 

Brocade^®is the registered trademark of Broadcom Inc.

Foundry® Fades into Networking History

July 21st marks eight years since Brocade^® Communications agreed to buy Foundry^® Networks. Since then the name Foundry^® and the Foundry^® logo have disappeared from the networking landscape. Industry intelligence sources tells us that there are still hundreds if not thousands of customers world-wide that continue to use Foundry^® products.

If your company is one of them you are likely evaluating these three options:

1. “Go Commando” – Doing your own maintenance is never a good idea.
2. “Rip & Replace” – Replacing all your legacy Foundry equipment with new products is expensive and not necessary when it is still working.
3. Third Party Maintenance – Find an experienced 3rd party maintenance provider who can provide top quality Foundry^® support at 80% below manufacturer’s pricing.

We’d like to introduce you to TeamKCI, America’s leading maintenance provider, for comprehensive Foundry^® networking support. If you’re concerned about continued support for Foundry^® products we may have the right answer for you.

TeamKCI offers three different levels of Foundry^® support:

• 24 x 7 with 4-hour onsite response
• 9 hours per day 5 days a week
• Next Business Day (NBD) parts.

Each level of support includes 24 x 7 tech support and help desk. Onsite support is four hour onsite and includes spare parts on premises, and is backed by the most accredited third party switch maintainer in the business. Check out the complete list of Foundry^® EOL Dates, Foundry^® parts we cover including machines such as Foundry Fast Iron Edge FES2402, Foundry Fast Iron Fi800, Foundry Edgeiron Eif4802cf.

As your network ages and parts become scarce count on TeamKCI to keep your network running the way it was designed to run.

*Brocade^® is the registered trademark of Broadcom Inc.

EMC^® ED-48000B Nears End-of-Support Date

In May 2005, Brocade^® introduced its then flagship 48000 director, a 4 Gbps director with an eight (8) blade capacity, each blade capable of attaching up to 48 ports, for a total capacity of 384 ports. EMC^® re-branded the 48K and sold it as the ED-48000B.  It was designed by Brocade^® to compete with McData^® and Cisco^® its two main rivals (at the time) in the director space. Back then the EMC^® ED-48000B (Brocade^® 48K) was “state of the art”.  Now it is a bit old – legacy if you will – and was designated End-of-Life in January 2011 roughly five and one half years after its introduction. Soon, on January 31, 2016, the EMC^® ED-48000B will reach its End-of-Support date with EMC^®.

There is no need to panic or make a quick decision to upgrade. TeamKCI will pick up support the day your EMC^® support contract runs out. No need to squirrel away parts, buy spare machines to store in your parts closet or read up on maintenance procedures. TeamKCI will maintain your EMC^® ED-48000B as good as or even better than the manufacturer at prices that will shock you and make you wonder why you didn’t move your EMC^® ED-48000B maintenance over to TeamKCI earlier.

We guaranty that you will be able to talk to a technical specialist within fifteen minutes of making a service call any time of day or night. Four-hour onsite response time (though in reality we average less than two hours). A full complement of spare parts stored on premises to facilitate rapid repairs. Product engineers who speak the language and can help you reconfigure your ED-48000B or restore corrupted software. Top of the rack service at bottom of the rack prices. Exactly what you would expect from the leader in switching technology support. Our Cisco maintenance^® includes support for Cisco^® MDS 9000, Cisco^® MDS 9509, Cisco^® WS 2960, Cisco^® catalyst 4500 Series Switches, Cisco^® 2800, Cisco^® Catalyst 6500 and 6500 E series. We also provide many Cisco^® Hardware Sales.

Brocade^® is the registered trademark of Broadcom Inc.

Cisco^® is registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the
United States and certain other countries.

EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

McDATA^® is a registered trademark of Brocade Communications.

Brocade^® 48000 Nears End-of-Support Date

In May 2005, Brocade^® introduced its then flagship 48000 director, a 4 Gbps director with an eight (8) blade capacity, each blade capable of attaching up to 48 ports, for a total capacity of 384 ports. The 48K as it was known was designed to compete with McData^® and Cisco^® its two main rivals (at the time) in the director space. At one time the Brocade^® 48K was “state of the art”.  Now it is a bit old – legacy if you will – and was designated End-of-Life in June 2010 roughly five years after its introduction. Soon, on February 17, 2016, the Brocade^® 48K will reach its Brocade^® End-of-Support date.

There is no need to panic or make a quick decision to upgrade. TeamKCI will pick up support the day your Brocade^® support contract runs out. No need to squirrel away parts, buy spare machines to store in your parts closet or read up on maintenance procedures. TeamKCI will maintain your Brocade^® 48K as good as or even better than the manufacturer at prices that will shock you and make you wonder why you didn’t move your Brocade^® 48K maintenance over to TeamKCI earlier.

We guaranty that you will be able to talk to a technical specialist within fifteen minutes of making a service call any time of day or night. Four-hour onsite response time (though in reality we average less than two hours). A full complement of spare parts stored on premises to facilitate rapid repairs. Product engineers who speak the language and can help you reconfigure your 48k or restore corrupted software. Top of the rack service at bottom of the rack prices. Exactly what you would expect from the leader in switching technology support.

TeamKCI Announces Brocade^® USDX Support as Brocade^® End Its Support

If losing support for your USDX channel extender network is not an option call TeamKCI today. Brocade^® will cease maintaining all versions of the USDX on May 15, 2015 – less than eight months down the road. Some customers are even being told they cannot renew their maintenance agreement if a one year renewal contract would carry them past the May 15, 2015 End-of-Service date.

TeamKCI offers an alternative. As switching experts for the last 32 years and America’s #1 independent maintainer of Brocade^® equipment, TeamKCI will gladly maintain your USDX directors for as long as you choose to use them. No limits. No End-of-Life dates. No End-of-Service dates. Just continue to use your USDX until you’re ready to move to a different platform.

TeamKCI support includes all parts, remote dial-in support, 4-hour on-site response time and change management services.

If continuing to use your Brocade^® USDX channel extenders are part of your plans don’t hesitate, TeamKCI is ready to step in today. Call us and we’ll put together a cost-effective plan to keep your USDXs running for as long as you choose to use them.

TeamKCI Announces 60% Off DCX Maintenance

TeamKCI is pleased to announce it has expanded its award-winning worldwide support program to include Brocade^® DCX directors at rates that are 60% less than the manufacturers suggested retail price. TeamKCI has also begun offering round-the-clock monitoring for Enterprise customers becoming the only independent maintenance provider to offer this service. With TeamKCI, our customers get:

• Top of the line manufacturer’s quality support.
• Spare parts stored on premises to facilitate rapid repairs.
• 70% + off all DCX hardware upgrades
• 60% off manufacturer’s maintenance rates.
• Round-the-clock monitoring at 60% off manufacturer’s rates.

As you begin preparing your 2015 support budget put TeamKCI in your plans for quality, dependability and cost conscious savings.

It’s not too good to believe. It’s TeamKCI.

“Tomorrow’s Company for Yesterday’s Equipment”

TeamKCI Announces Brocade^® Network Monitoring for DCX

TeamKCI has launched a new generation of remote monitoring services to help customers more effectively manage application and network performance end-to-end across their data center fabrics.

The TeamKCI DCX Monitoring Service helps organizations reduce downtime, optimize resource utilization and better meet business requirements for application performance.

TeamKCI Monitoring Service begins with Brocade^® DCX class directors and provides a secure architecture for proactive, remote network monitoring, alerting and reporting.

TeamKCI Monitoring Service includes:

·         24x7x365 expert monitoring and analysis of network health

·         Real-time and historical performance information

·         Flexible architecture for event correlation and policy-based business intelligence

·         Back-up in the event of a lost internet connection

·         Customer access portal

TeamKCI can also monitor a long list of switch status parameters including: power supplies, temperatures, fans, WWN cards, CP cards, port blades, core blades, flash thresholds, faulty ports, missing SFPs and error ports; alerting customers in real time to potential problems before they happen.

“TeamKCI Network Monitoring is a major leap forward in third-party maintenance. With it, our customers now have the ability to monitor and manage SAN Fabrics at a small fraction of the manufactures price.” said Wayne Duglin, EVP of TeamKCI.

If you would like more information about TeamKCI Monitoring Service please contact:

Debra Kaplove

Phone: (201) 934-6500 ext. 20

Email: Debra@teamkci.com

Brocade^® Announces DCX End-of-Life (EOL)

Brocade^® Communications (BRCD) has announced the initiation of End-of-Life (EOL) for its flagship DCX SAN director. Historically going forward this means that there will be no new software upgrades, no new firmware enhancements and no new bug fixes. Also starting in 2015 there will be yearly maintenance price increases of 10% for five (5) years until the DCX reaches End-of-Support.

The good news is that DCX customers are no longer encumbered by the fear of losing access to software and firmware enhancements and are now free to choose the best and most cost effective support program available.

That is why TeamKCI is pleased to announce it has expanded its award-winning worldwide support to include Brocade^® DCX and DCX4S directors at rates that are 60% less than Brocade^®’s published rates. TeamKCI is also offering round-the-clock monitoring for Enterprise customers becoming the first and only independent maintenance provider to offer this service.

For a moderate size SAN with only six (6) DCX directors, yearly savings of over $100,000 can be achieved.

Don’t delay. Call or email today and start saving immediately on the best Brocade^® DCX support in the market.   

 “Tomorrow’s company for yesterday’s equipment”

TeamKCI Announces Foundry^® Networks Support – TeamKCI

TeamKCI is pleased to announce maintenance support for legacy Foundry Networks networking gear.

Foundry Networks^®, Inc. was a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing, security, and application traffic management solutions. It merged with Brocade^® Communications on December 18, 2008. The Foundry acquisition gave Brocade^® the networking products including Ethernet switches, Web and content-aware application switches and network security solutions, to compete with other high performance networking solutions companies such as Cisco^®, F5, Juniper and Force10.

Today five and one-half years later virtually all Foundry products have been re-branded and most original Foundry products have been designated End-of-Life (EOL) and/or End-of-Support (EOS) by Brocade^®.  Odds are if it says Foundry on the side the likelihood is that Brocade^® soon won’t maintain it – but TeamKCI will.

TeamKCI, founded in 1982, is America’s leading Brocade^® SAN & networking support company, dedicated to providing our customers outstanding support to help minimize network outages and reduce operational expenditures. TeamKCI offers a wide range of support programs and professional services. Call or email to find out about the high quality low cost maintenance support options we offer for legacy Foundry Network products and view the Foundry EOL dates. We maintain many legacy Foundry machines such as Foundry Fast Iron Edge FES2402, Foundry Fast Iron Fi800, Foundry Edgeiron Eif4802cf.

Legacy Foundry support another innovation from TeamKCI.

Brocade^® is the registered trademark of Broadcom Inc.

Cisco^® is registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the
United States and certain other countries.

Brocade^® Support for 4 Gbps Ends on February 28, 2014

Mahwah, NJ – February 28, 2014 looms large as the End-of-Support date for five Brocade^® machines as the Storage Area Network leader ends support for remaining 4 Gbps platforms. Most notably on the End-of-Support list are the McData^® 6140 and the McData^® i10k directors that moved over to Brocade^® after the acquisition of McData^® in 2006.  The other three machines losing Brocade^® support are the Brocade^® 200E, 4900 and 5000.

TeamKCI services all Brocade^® (and McData^® ) devices that have been designated End-of-Support by Brocade^® including all the machines mentioned above at rates that are 50%-70% less than Brocade^®‘s rates. For continuing support options and more details about our award winning maintenance (Verizon award) please contact Jeff Klein at 201-934-7286 or email jeffk@teamkci.com   

TeamKCI also maintains legacy Cisco^®, Juniper, BlueCoat, F5, NetApp^® and EMC^® platforms. For a quote on any of these systems please contact  Jeff Klein at 201-934-7286 or email jeffk@teamkci.com or visit our website at www.TeamKCI.com.

Brocade^® is the registered trademark of Broadcom Inc.

NetApp^® is registered trademarks of NetApp,Inc.

Cisco^® is registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the
United States and certain other countries.

EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

McDATA^® is a registered trademark of Brocade Communications.

“McData^®-geddon” Approaching

“McData^®-geddon” Approaching

As McData^® 6140 and i10k Directors Reach End-of-Support

Mahwah, NJ February 28, 2014 marks the End-of-Support for the McData^® 6140 and McData^® i10k directors by Brocade^®. These machines were the last two McData^® designed directors that Brocade^® continued to support after its takeover of McData^® in late 2006 now more than seven years ago.

Also slated for End-of-Support on February 28, 2014 are the Brocade^® 4900, Brocade^® 5000 and Brocade^® 200E all 4-Gbps switches, as Brocade^® support for 4-Gbps platforms ends.

TeamKCI services all Brocade^® devices that have been designated End-of-Support by Brocade^® including all the machines mentioned above at rates that are 50%-70% less than Brocade^®’s rates. For continuing support options and more details about our award winning maintenance (link to Verizon award) please contact Jeff Klein at 201-934-7286 or email jeffk@teamkci.com

Brocade^® is the registered trademark of Broadcom Inc.

McDATA^® is a registered trademark of Brocade Communications.

Special Opportunity | Brocade® DCX 8510

A special opportunity has brought two (2) Brocade^® 8510 directors into our inventory.  These machines have 128 16 Gbps ports each and are IBM^® badged and IBM^® “banded”.

The exact configuration is as follows:

      IBM^® 2499-816 (DCX 8510)               $136,769.

• 2802 (4) SW SFP 8 Gbps
• 2809 (15) SW SFP 8 Gbps – 8 pack
• 2821 (4) SFP 8 GBPS10 KM LW
• 3632 (4) FC 16GBPS 32 Port Blade

List Price:          $457,319.

                             TeamKCI Price:     $115,000.  (25% of List)

Call today as quantities are limited.

The Sky is Falling on Brocade^® DCX Prices

If you’re in the market for a Brocade^® DCX or a DCX blade upgrade you couldn’t have picked a better time. With Brocade^® selling the heck out of the new 16 Gbps capable Gen 5 DCX 8510 backbone director, older Brocade^® DCX directors have hit the market en masse and have caused DCX chassis and blade prices to plummet.

DCX chassis which sold at over $35,000 at the retail level before the summer have dropped below $20,000 today.  

Thirty-two port FC8-32 blades have dropped from $7000 in the spring to $5000 today. And, forty-eight port FC8-48 blades have dropped 38% from $12,000 to $7,500.

So if you’re thinking of upgrading, now may be the perfect time to take advantage of the recent market pull back. 

Attention EMC^® Connectrix Users!

Attention EMC^® Connectrix Users!

Manufacturer’s support for EMC^® badged Connectrix 4900 and 5000 switches, and Connectrix 6140 directors will end on January 31, 2014. 

If you are using these machines and plan to continue using them beyond this date, please contact TeamKCI immediately for continued coverage.  We can even get you covered that same day at 60% less than OEM prices.

EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Brocade^® To Stop McData^® 6140 and McData^® i10k Support

In just 142 days, Brocade^® will stop maintaining McData^® 6140 and McData^® i10k directors on February 28, 2014. If you are still using these machines there are two things you should do immediately:   

1)      Make sure you get the latest version of operating system software from Brocade^®.

2)      Call TeamKCI to continue your McData^® maintenance.

There are no End-of-Support dates for McData^® equipment at TeamKCI – just high quality Enterprise level support at less than 25% of the manufacturer’s price. Don’t let your support run out. Call TeamKCI today and we’ll help you keep your legacy McData^® equipment running.

Brocade^® Discontinued McData^® i10K and 6140 on February 28, 2014

Brocade^® Communications will discontinue the McData^® i10K and the McData^® 6140 directors on February 28, 2014.

If you are using either of these directors and plan on continuing to use them in the future, please contact TeamKCI at 201-934-6500 ext. 11 or by email at jeffk@teamkci.com or visit our website www.TeamKCI.com for any easy low cost maintenance plan.

IBM^® to end support for 9032 ESCON Directors – TeamKCI

After 23 years of field usage, IBM^® has announced the End of Support Life (EOSL) for all IBM^® legacy 9032 ESCON directors – Models 2, 3 and 5 – effective March 31, 2014, after which IBM^® will no longer maintain these devices.

 If you are using any of the IBM^® ESCON directors and plan on continuing to use them in the future, please contact TeamKCI at 201-934-6500 ext. 11 or by email at jeffk@teamkci.com or visit our website https://www.TeamKCI.com for any easy low cost maintenance plan.

IBM is trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

The Best Server, Storage and Network Maintenance Programs

All maintenance is mission critical and maintenance providers should always treat every maintenance call as a mission critical event.  When a well-integrated maintenance program works properly it prevents downtimes, loss and other operational problems.  This should not just be your goal but what you actually deliver.