He noted it is important to first understand the information before making the next move.

"My advice: understand your data requirements" said Toigo. "Ultimately, I believe that storage [infrastructure] must be tailored to data requirements."

Since data "inherits its DNA from business processes and applications," he said IT should understand data's regulatory conformance requirements, criticality from a business continuity perspective, security and accessibility requirements, retention period, as well as the performance requirements demanded of the hosting platform.

"It is a laborious process that must be undertaken before buying anything from a vendor," added Toigo. "You need to know your data and what it requires from a provisioning and protection services standpoint over time."

This is exactly how the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) started its storage revamp project early last year. By sending out a questionnaire to users, the IT team researched data requirements from users.