Hewlett-Packard StorageWorks
Visimation custom shapes facilitate HP storage area network configuration
Visimation developed a set of Visio shapes for Hewlett-Packard that assist sales engineers in illustrating custom storage system configurations complete with customer specific data backup requirements. This HP solution started with a simple set of drag-and-drop symbols used to assemble diagrams quickly. Anticipating future needs, Visimation linked the shapes to HP’s sizing tools system so that the Visio logical diagrams automatically generate sizing and configuration data (i.e. part number and description, number of drives, backup strategies, etc.).
A StorageWorks solution consists of user-supplied items like servers and externally mounted disk arrays, along with “sizer selected” components that the customer is suggested to buy. The Visio symbols differentiate between user-supplied and user-purchased components as some of the newly purchased devices are mounted within a user-supplied device. For example, a suggested purchased component like a SCSI HBA could be mounted inside a user-supplied server. Visimation created display behaviors for the shapes to represent these various conditions.
Meeting HP’s aggressive development schedule, Visimation produced the intelligent symbols HP needed in a very short time frame. To do this, Visimation simultaneously developed the shapes while HP’s internal staff developed other parts of the configuration tool that expose the shapes to manipulation by external programs and data feeds. HP benefited from low development costs, accelerated time to market, and broad market acceptance of Visio as a graphics platform for information technology.