Northern Storage Chargeback

Northern Storage Suite Chargeback Module

Excessive storage use stems from poor awareness of the costs involved. Raising awareness encourages efficiency – delivering invoices requires it.

Implementing a system of internal billing with Northern Storage Suite (through NSS: Storage Chargeback) allows you to:
- Highlight the importance of efficient storage use.
- Stop storage costs from disappearing into the overall IT budget.

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Below you will find a comprehensive list of the chargeback features within Northern Storage Suite:

Exchange mailbox analysis – invoice or report depending on mailbox size
Quota analysis – invoice or report according to quota size
User level reporting/billing – send individual users an invoice or a cost report
Group level reporting/billing – send department managers an invoice or a cost report
Path level reporting/billing – send reports and invoices to project managers and customers
Open format outputs – calculation output is stored in MS SQL, and can also be exported to MS Excel and CSV

Granular pricing schemes match real-world business models:

Multi-tiered billing classes – use a flat pricing scheme or one where different usage thresholds trigger escalated costs
Pricing to match device types – charge a premium for high end storage and encourage infrequently used data to be kept on low end devices
Base cost – charge a start-up fee to cover administrative overhead

Scheduled reports offer financial analysis:

Identify cost growth patterns – the fastest growing user, group or path
Identify budget viability – forecast budget exhaustion dates according to current trends