As Kindred Healthcare CIO Rick Chapman begins a discussion about his company's storage strategies, he asks a rhetorical question: "Why would I be talking about this as opposed to the VP of data center operations?" The simple answer is that as wave after wave of new data flows into Kindred's systems—including electronic patient records, e-mails, insurance and billing files, and government-mandated documentation—Chapman is feeling the squeeze on the overall cost and performance of his IT operations.

IT funding and it's related infrastructure and storage costs sit high atop the agenda of Kindred's executive committee, of which Chapman is a member. And storage, a growing component of infrastructure, once too mundane for other executives to notice, is suddenly in the C-suite spotlight. "Now we have to be more transparent, and be able to defend the purchases and the cost structure of the infrastructure," Chapman says. "I have to make sure we're as cost-effective and still able to provide the business service reliability for the company."

To get a better handle on costs while at the same time keeping pace with Kindred's burgeoning demand for storage and data recovery needs, Chapman has vowed to eliminate his traditional tape backup systems within the next five years and replace them with virtual tape library (VTL) technology.

A VTL is an appliance that uses data storage virtualization technology to improve compression on disks. It also helps companies reduce duplication of stored information. The technology isn't new—it's been on the market since 2001. But it's getting attention as CIOs take aim at the storage problem. According to a recent report by Forrester Research Principal Analyst Stephanie Balaouras, these techniques enable companies to use disk capacity more effectively and thus lower costs.

The "Save Everything" Mentality

Chapman is no small-time CIO, nor is he one of those CIOs more comfortable in the back room than in the boardroom. Kindred Healthcare is the largest for-profit, long-term healthcare provider in the United States, with $4 billion in revenue, 52,000 employees and 600 facilities in 39 states. Chapman is not only the CIO but also the chief administration officer. He has worked in top IT spots at healthcare giants Columbia HCA and Humana in the past, and he knows the complexities of health care from both the business and IT sides.