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Service · 11 · Storage as a Service (STaaS)
ModernOps · Storage

Storage,
run as a
service.

Managed NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, and traditional SAN/NAS with documented array inventory, LogicMonitor health visibility, ticket-driven volume / LUN / share operations, firmware lifecycle with rollback, and capacity planning billed at the 95th percentile.

How STaaS works
Arrays managed
NetApp ONTAP Pure FlashArray SAN / NAS
Billing model
95pconsumed capacity
Capacity reviews
Monthly+ quarterly deep-dive
Firmware
Pre / post+ rollback
TL;DR
ModernOps Storage as a Service (STaaS) operates storage arrays, volumes, LUNs, shares, and replication as a recurring service across NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, and traditional SAN/NAS estates. Inventory documented, arrays in LogicMonitor, volume / LUN / share changes via tickets, firmware & ONTAP/Purity lifecycle with pre-change snapshots and rollback, capacity reviewed monthly, plus a Storage Baseline Document delivered during onboarding and billing on the 95th percentile of consumption.
01What is STaaS

Storage
operated as a
service.

Storage as a Service is a managed operating model for the storage infrastructure a business depends on , NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, and traditional SAN/NAS estates. Capacity, performance, replication, ransomware protection, snapshot policy, and firmware lifecycle delivered as a recurring service, priced on the 95th percentile of total storage consumed.

ModernOps operationalizes storage through volume, LUN, share, and aggregate administration; snapshot & SnapMirror replication; SnapLock immutability; ransomware protection add-ons for SAN and NAS; firmware and ONTAP/Purity lifecycle management; capacity reviews; performance tuning; and a Storage Baseline Document delivered during onboarding.

The 95p consumption model means you pay for the storage you actually used, not the storage you provisioned. Provisioning, expansions, replication changes, and restores run through ticketing with documented closure and Change Control Board review on production changes.

Onboarding is documented: storage system inventory captured (make, model, controller pair, shelves, drives, firmware, ONTAP/Purity version), volume / LUN / share inventory captured (name, protocol, size, used, snapshot policy, replication target, immutability), aggregates and storage pools documented, arrays onboarded into LogicMonitor, and replication topology validated end-to-end.

Operations move toward standardized provisioning, monitoring, and governed change. The SOC 2 report describes a standardized build process for storage and infrastructure devices, a Patch & Firmware Management Policy, proactive monitoring, and Change Control Board review for production storage changes.

02Who this is for

Built for the
people who own
the data.

Storage operations show up in four conversations across IT. We answer each one with documented coverage and a defined operating model, not another spreadsheet of LUNs.

01 / Executive
CIO &
VP of IT
A consistent, predictable, process-driven framework for daily storage operations and consumption-based billing, across NetApp, Pure, SAN, and NAS estates with one operating motion.
02 / Infrastructure
Storage & Data
Engineering Lead
Operational coverage for arrays, controllers, shelves, aggregates, volumes, LUNs, shares, replication topology, snapshot policies, immutability, and firmware, all documented.
03 / Operations
IT Ops &
Service Desk
Requests, incidents, volume provisioning, expansions, restores, replication changes, escalations, all handled through ticketing with documented closure and severity-based response.
04 / Risk
Security &
Compliance Stake
Encrypted credential storage, RBAC, immutable snapshots (SnapLock), ransomware protection add-ons, firmware management, and Change Control Board review on production storage changes.
03What we hear

Eight
sentences
we answer.

Server conversations almost always start with the same set of frustrations. We turn each one into an operating commitment, written into the SOW.

We have arrays and shares everywhere, but no clean storage inventory.
Onboarding collects array inventory (make, model, controllers, shelves, drives, firmware, ONTAP/Purity version) and volume / LUN / share inventory (name, protocol, size, used, snapshot policy, replication target).
Our storage is critical, but the operating model is fragmented.
One operating model across NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, and traditional SAN/NAS, with productized SKUs by total storage consumed (95p).
Provisioning new volumes and shares is too informal.
Volume, LUN, share provisioning, expansion, and restore requests run through tickets with documented closure, no console drift, no chat-driven changes.
We need firmware and ONTAP/Purity upgrades without surprises.
Firmware lifecycle planning, deployment, validation, rollback planning, maintenance windows, pre-change snapshot checks, and post-change validation.
We don't know when storage runs hot until apps slow down.
Arrays in LogicMonitor, IOPS, latency, throughput, capacity, replication lag, and controller health via SNMP or API, with auto-created ITSM incidents.
Capacity planning is reactive, we always seem to fill up.
Continuous monitoring, trend analysis, forecasting, threshold alerts, monthly reviews, and quarterly comprehensive analyses with right-sizing advisory.
Replication and immutability are documented somewhere… we think.
SnapMirror replication topology, snapshot policy, and SnapLock immutability all documented and validated end-to-end during onboarding.
Ransomware blast-radius keeps us up at night.
SAN and NAS Protection add-on SKUs with anomaly detection, immutable snapshots, and recovery procedures tied into the Backup & DR runbooks.
04How we deliver

Documented.
Ticketed.
Reviewed.

Server operations become a controlled service motion: document, operate, optimize, on a recurring rhythm, not a one-time onboarding that drifts in week three.

01
Document
Inventory &
topology
Array inventory (controllers, shelves, drives, firmware, ONTAP/Purity version), volume / LUN / share inventory, aggregate & storage pool layout, replication topology & SnapMirror relationships, snapshot policies, SnapLock immutability, and onboarding into LogicMonitor with API/SNMP collection.
02
Operate
Ticket-driven
volumes & firmware
Volume, LUN, share provisioning, expansion, snapshot, and restore via tickets. Firmware and ONTAP/Purity upgrades with defined scope, maintenance windows, pre-change snapshot checks, post-change validation, rollback procedures, and an Upgrade Run Report.
03
Optimize
Capacity, perf
& protection
Capacity, IOPS, latency, replication lag, and snapshot consumption monitored with trend analysis and threshold alerts. Monthly capacity reviews, quarterly deep-dives, right-sizing advisory, and a Storage Baseline Document delivered during onboarding.
05What changes

Before
& after.

Two snapshots of the same estate. One in the world without ModernOps storage management, one with.

Before
Fragmented
storage estate.
Manual provisioning.
Reactive firmware.

Spreadsheet inventories, inconsistent array administration, console-driven volume changes, unclear replication coverage, deferred firmware, and capacity surprises. Aggregate layout and SnapMirror relationships live in someone's head. Application teams page the storage team for expansions mid-incident.

After · with ModernOps
Operated
storage.
Ticketed changes.
Forecasted capacity.

Health monitoring, firmware planning, capacity forecasting, right-sizing, replication validation, immutability documentation, escalation paths, and monthly/quarterly capacity reviews, all built into the recurring service. Storage Baseline Document delivered during onboarding.

06Side by side

Legacy storage ops
vs. ModernOps STaaS.

Same arrays, volumes, and shares. Different operating model. Seven dimensions where the work shifts off your team and into a documented service.

Dimension Legacy approach ModernOps with STaaS
Inventory Spreadsheets, tribal knowledge, stale exports. Array, volume, LUN, and share inventory captured during onboarding.
Platform ops Ad hoc admin per array vendor. Managed across NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, SAN, and NAS.
Provisioning Chat, email, console changes. Ticket-driven volumes, LUNs, shares, expansions, and restores.
Monitoring User-reported slowness. LogicMonitor for IOPS, latency, capacity with auto-incident.
Firmware lifecycle Deferred, no rollback plan. Defined scope, windows, pre/post checks, rollback, Upgrade Run Report.
Capacity & billing Reactive, surprise expansion buys. 95p consumed billing, trend forecasting, monthly/quarterly reviews.
Ransomware Hope the backups work. SAN/NAS Protection add-ons, SnapLock immutability, anomaly detection.
07What you get

Six outcomes.
Six commitments.

Each outcome maps to a specific operational deliverable, not a marketing promise.

Inventory you
can trust
Array, controller, shelf, drive, and firmware inventory plus volume / LUN / share inventory, protocol, size, used, snapshot policy, replication, maintained as a living artifact.
Platform-aware
operations
NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, and traditional SAN/NAS with documented aggregates, storage pools, replication topology, and SnapLock immutability.
Ticket-driven
storage changes
Volume, LUN, share provisioning, expansion, snapshot, and restore via tickets, with documented closure, severity-based response, and audit trail.
24x7 health
visibility
LogicMonitor for IOPS, latency, throughput, capacity, replication lag, and controller health via SNMP or API, with auto-created ITSM incidents.
Capacity before
crisis
Continuous monitoring, trend analysis, forecasting, threshold alerts, monthly reviews, quarterly comprehensive analyses, and 95p consumption billing.
Ransomware
protection
SAN and NAS Protection add-ons with SnapLock immutability, anomaly detection, and recovery procedures tied into the Backup & DR runbooks.
08Firmware lifecycle

Every firmware run
follows the
same path.

From a defined maintenance window to an Upgrade Run Report in your inbox, every firmware or ONTAP/Purity cycle runs through the same five steps. Pre-change snapshot checks. Post-change validation. Rollback ready.

Runbook · STAAS-FW-01

Firmware run
to validation
pattern.

Severity-based response: High within 20 minutes, Medium within 4 hours, Low within 24 hours. Firmware and ONTAP/Purity upgrades include pre-change snapshot validation, post-change service checks, replication health confirmation, rollback procedures, and an Upgrade Run Report after each cycle.

01
Scope &
schedule
Firmware/ONTAP scope confirmed against array inventory. Maintenance window agreed with application owners. Change ticket opened. Customer notified of expected impact and rollback path.
02
Pre-change
checks
Snapshot validation per volume. Replication lag baseline captured. Critical workloads flagged for non-disruptive upgrade path. Controller failover health confirmed. Go/no-go agreed.
03
Deploy &
monitor
Firmware or ONTAP/Purity update applied per vendor procedure with non-disruptive controller takeover where supported. LogicMonitor watches IOPS, latency, replication, and controller health throughout.
04
Validate or
roll back
Service checks, host I/O confirmation, replication catch-up, snapshot integrity. If anything fails the gate, vendor-supported rollback executes within the same window.
05
Report &
RCA
Upgrade Run Report delivered after each cycle. RCA produced when an upgrade causes an incident, with timeline and follow-up action items.
09Operating flow

Capacity,
plotted as a
constellation.

Twelve volumes orbit the array. Distance from center = consumed capacity. The dashed amber ring is the 95p billing line. Watch volumes drift outward as data lands; the ones near the line are the ones to talk about. Snapshots pulse out from center on schedule.

Live Capacity model · 12 volumes · 95p of total consumed
VOLUMES · TOP CONSUMERS
  • lun-ora-dataFC · 96%
  • vol-backup-tgtNFS · 95%
  • svm-finance-shareCIFS · 92%
  • vol-prod-sql-01iSCSI · 88%
  • svm-researchCIFS · 78%
  • lun-iscsi-tier1iSCSI · 72%
  • svm-home-dirsCIFS · 68%
TOTAL CONSUMED 847 TB
95P (BILLED) 812 TB
SNAP RETENTION 90 d
HEALTHY OVER 95p SNAPSHOT TAKEN
10Supported platforms

One operating
model. Many
platforms.

Storage arrays, controllers, replication engines, immutability layers, and monitoring tooling, all consolidated under a single managed service motion.

Array · 01
NetApp AFF
ONTAP 9SnapMirrorSnapLock
Array · 02
NetApp FAS
ONTAP 9NFS/SMBiSCSI
Array · 03
Pure FlashArray
PurityActiveDRSafeMode
SAN · 04
Dell PowerStore
BlockFileReplication
SAN · 05
HPE Alletra
BlockNimbleOS
NAS · 06
Windows
File Server
SMBDFS-N/RABE
Protocol · 07
Block &
File
FCiSCSINFSSMB
Replication · 08
SnapMirror
AsyncSyncSVM-DR
Immutability · 09
SnapLock
+ SafeMode
WORMCompliance
Protection · 10
SAN/NAS
Protection
AnomalyRecovery
Monitoring · 11
LogicMonitor
SNMPAPIONTAP REST
Billing · 12
95p Consumed
per TB / momonthly true-up
11Live fleet view

A fleet that
explains itself.

A representative slice of hosts, VMs, and clusters, the kind of view your monthly review opens with, not closes with.

12Proof points

Numbers that
frame the
program.

Productized SKUs, response targets, capacity cadence, and representative MRR, so commercial conversations have something concrete to anchor on.

Productized
SKUs
3Storage · SAN Protect · NAS Protect
Monitoring
platform
LogicMonitorSNMP · ONTAP REST · API
High severity
response
20 minMed 4 hr · Low 24 hr
Billing
basis
95pTotal Storage Consumed
Capacity review
cadence
Monthly+ quarterly deep-dive
Recovery
time
~10 hr → min12 TB tape vs SnapRestore drill
13Onboarding

30 days
from assess to
optimize.

Three repeatable phases. Predictable handoffs. Collectors deployed, dashboards live, alerts tuned, and review cadence in place by day 30.

Phase 01 / Days 0 – 10
Assess
scope & intake
  • Confirm storage scope and array inventory
  • Confirm ONTAP / Purity version & firmware
  • Document aggregates and storage pools
  • Capture volume / LUN / share inventory
  • Confirm replication and snapshot policy
Phase 02 / Days 10 – 20
Implement
access & topology
  • Establish access (System Manager, Purity, SSH, API)
  • Store credentials in vault
  • Validate SnapMirror & ActiveDR end-to-end
  • Document SnapLock / SafeMode immutability
  • Onboard arrays into LogicMonitor
Phase 03 / Days 20 – 30
Optimize
change & capacity
  • Define provisioning & expansion workflows
  • Plan firmware / ONTAP / Purity upgrade cadence
  • Enable 95p consumption telemetry & billing
  • Provide capacity planning & right-sizing advisory
  • Deliver Storage Baseline Document
14Why ModernOps

Eight reasons
to make us your
storage partner.

The operating choices that separate a managed storage program from another break/fix relationship.

01
Storage-layer clarity
Explicitly defined as storage administration; backup and DR are scoped separately so the operating boundary between Backup, DRaaS, and STaaS is clear from day one.
02
Multi-platform coverage
NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, and traditional SAN/NAS, one operating model across the platforms you actually run.
03
95p consumption billing
Pay for the storage you actually used, not the storage you provisioned. Monthly true-up, monthly capacity reviews, quarterly deep-dives.
04
Ticket-driven storage ops
Volume, LUN, share provisioning, expansion, snapshot, and restore via tickets, with documented closure and severity-based response.
05
Monitoring embedded
Arrays onboarded into LogicMonitor with auto-created ITSM incidents on IOPS, latency, capacity, replication lag, not a separate monitoring contract.
06
Replication validated
SnapMirror, ActiveDR, and SVM-DR relationships documented and validated end-to-end during onboarding, not assumed to be working.
07
Ransomware-aware
SAN and NAS Protection add-on SKUs with SnapLock immutability, SafeMode, anomaly detection, and recovery procedures tied into Backup & DR.
08
SOC 2-aligned
Standardized builds, Patch & Firmware Management Policy, proactive monitoring, incident management, and Change Control Board review on production storage changes.
15FAQ

Fifteen
answers,
organized.

Service definition, SKUs, supported platforms, change & firmware workflow, capacity reviews, billing, and how STaaS relates to Backup, DRaaS, and Server Management, all in plain language.

Q.01What is Storage as a Service?+
A managed service for NetApp ONTAP, Pure FlashArray, and traditional SAN/NAS estates. Capacity, performance, replication, ransomware protection, snapshot policy, and firmware lifecycle delivered as a recurring service, priced on the 95th percentile of total storage consumed.
Q.02What platforms are supported?+
NetApp AFF / FAS running ONTAP 9.x, Pure FlashArray running Purity, Dell PowerStore, HPE Alletra, and Windows-hosted file-server NAS estates. Block (FC, iSCSI), file (NFS, SMB), and object protocols are in scope.
Q.03What are the STaaS SKUs?+
Storage (the base STaaS SKU billed on 95p total storage consumed), SAN Protection (anomaly detection, immutability, recovery for block estates), and NAS Protection (the equivalent add-on for file estates).
Q.04How is consumption billed?+
95p of total storage consumed over the billing period, per TB per month. The 95th percentile smooths short-lived spikes while still reflecting real growth. Monthly capacity reviews share the consumption trend before the invoice lands.
Q.05How are storage changes handled?+
Ticket-driven. Volume, LUN, share provisioning, expansion, snapshot, and restore requests flow through ticketing with documented closure and severity-based response targets.
Q.06What does onboarding include?+
Array inventory, ONTAP/Purity version & firmware, aggregate & storage pool layout, volume / LUN / share inventory, replication topology validated end-to-end, snapshot policy & SnapLock immutability captured, arrays onboarded into LogicMonitor, and a Storage Baseline Document delivered.
Q.07How is access established?+
NetApp System Manager & ONTAP REST, Pure Purity GUI & API, vendor SSH, and array-level service accounts, all with credentials stored in vault and RBAC scoped to ModernOps engineering roles.
Q.08How is health monitored?+
Arrays onboarded into LogicMonitor, IOPS, latency, throughput, capacity, replication lag, and controller health via SNMP, ONTAP REST, or Purity API, with auto-created ITSM incidents on threshold breach.
Q.09How is firmware / ONTAP / Purity upgraded?+
Per a documented Patch & Firmware Management Policy, with pre-change snapshot validation, non-disruptive controller takeover where supported, post-change validation, rollback procedures, and an Upgrade Run Report.
Q.10What about capacity planning?+
Capacity, IOPS, latency, replication lag, and snapshot consumption monitored with trend analysis, forecasting, and threshold alerts. Monthly capacity reviews, quarterly comprehensive analyses, and right-sizing advisory.
Q.11What are the response SLAs?+
High severity within 20 minutes, Medium within 4 hours, Low within 24 hours. RCA provided when required after service restoration.
Q.12Are backups included?+
No, STaaS is array administration. Backup is a separate service line. STaaS ensures snapshot policy, replication, and SnapLock immutability are documented and operating; the Backup service handles application-aware backup and long-term retention.
Q.13How does STaaS handle change control?+
Production storage changes are reviewed through ModernOps' Change Control Board per the SOC 2 report, with a standardized build process for new storage and infrastructure devices.
Q.14What does the Protection add-on cover?+
SAN Protection and NAS Protection are add-on SKUs that layer SnapLock / SafeMode immutability, anomaly detection, and recovery procedures on top of the base storage operations, tied into the Backup & DR runbooks.
Q.15How does STaaS relate to SMS, MNS, and DRaaS?+
STaaS handles arrays, volumes, LUNs, and shares. SMS handles hosts, hypervisors, and VMs that consume that storage. MNS handles the network fabric. DRaaS orchestrates failover. OaaS provides the monitoring layer underneath.
16Get started

Start with a
storage
assessment.

ModernOps will review your arrays, controllers, shelves, firmware levels, ONTAP/Purity versions, aggregates & storage pools, volume / LUN / share inventory, snapshot & replication topology, and capacity trends, then map a practical path to a managed storage estate billed at the 95th percentile.