Compellent Customers Win 2008 InfoWorld 100 Awards for Improving Disaster Recovery and Virtualization Services

Business Wire, Dec 9, 2008

Kansas Spine Hospital, Tidewater Marine and University of Florida's Warrington College of Business Administration Honored for Innovative Use of the Compellent SAN

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Compellent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Arca: CML) today announced three customers, Kansas Spine Hospital, Tidewater Marine and University of Florida's Warrington School of Business Administration, each received an InfoWorld 100 award for their innovative disaster recovery and virtualization initiatives using the Compellent storage area network (SAN). InfoWorld's annual awards honor companies for IT projects that exemplify intelligent and creative uses of technology to meet business and technical objectives.

"We are committed to providing customers with next-generation technology to build efficient, reliable, virtual data centers that grow with evolving business needs," explained Bruce Kornfeld, vice president of marketing, Compellent. "Having three customers recognized by the InfoWorld 100 for their vision and technology leadership using Compellent's Storage Center SAN is not only a huge honor, but also a testament to the innovation and interoperability behind our technology."

As one of the nation's first fully digital, paperless and filmless healthcare facilities, Kansas Spine Hospital needed a flexible, long-term storage solution to manage its rapidly growing patient data and provide enterprise-class disaster recovery. Mike Knocke, CIO at Kansas Spine Hospital, implemented three Compellent SANs replicating to each other and utilized automated tiered storage, thin provisioning and storage virtualization to consolidate server operations in a virtualized VMware environment.

"Kansas Spine Hospital prides itself on being one of the most technologically advanced healthcare facilities in the country, and a foundation for that is the flexibility and intelligent storage management features of the Compellent SAN," said Mike Knocke, chief information officer, Kansas Spine Hospital. "Being recognized for one of the most innovative IT projects of the year by InfoWorld is a great honor, and one that we're very proud to receive."

After facing Hurricane Katrina and the devastating effects it had on its data center, Tidewater Marine, provider of maritime support services to the world's offshore oil-drilling operations, initiated a comprehensive business continuity plan to prepare for future natural or data disasters. John Chaffe, director of IT at Tidewater Marine, employed the flexibility of Fibre Channel and iSCSI connectivity with the Compellent SAN at Tidewater's New Orleans headquarters and its disaster recovery site in Dallas to protect critical financial and operational data.

The Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida modernized its IT infrastructure, consolidating 30 stand-alone distance-learning apps onto three VMware servers and shifting its one-to-one direct-attached storage environment to a virtualized Compellent SAN architecture.

To be considered for the InfoWorld 100 award, nominated projects must use multiple technologies in innovative ways to serve well-defined business goals. "Breathing new life into outdated operations, advancing business goals with inventive use of technology -- this year's winners demonstrate, once again, that innovative, business-minded IT is the lifeblood of successful organizations," said Jason Snyder, senior editor for InfoWorld.

Winners of the InfoWorld 100 were formally announced November 17 at InfoWorld.com.

For more information about the InfoWorld 100, please visit: http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/11/17/47FE-infoworld-100-list_11.html.> About Compellent

Compellent is a leading provider of enterprise-class network storage solutions that are highly scalable, feature-rich and designed to be easy to use and cost effective. Compellent Technologies' principal offices are located in Eden Prairie, Minn. For more information, please visit: http://www.compellent.com.

About InfoWorld Media Group

InfoWorld Media Group helps Senior IT Decision Makers choose the right technology, within the context of a cohesive strategy, for business impact at their organizations. Rather than merely covering the enterprise technology market, InfoWorld identifies and promotes emerging technology segments that add unique value for the organizations that implement them, as well as the vendors that provide those solutions. Using an integrated communications approach including online, events, research, and a continued investment in an independent Test Center, InfoWorld analysts and editors provide both hands-on analysis and evaluation, as well as expert commentary on issues surrounding emerging technologies and products. Visit InfoWorld at http://www.infoworld.com.

About International Data Group

International Data Group (IDG) is the world's leading technology media, events, and research company. IDG's online network includes more than 450 web sites spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment and video games worldwide. IDG also publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers. Media brands are in more than 90 countries and include CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld/TechWorld/TecChannel, Macworld, Network World, and PC World. The company's lead-generation service, IDG Connect, matches technology companies with an audience of engaged, high-quality IT professionals, influencers, and decision makers.