Long before the mainstream emergence of the Internet, The Vanguard Group considered itself a virtual company. �We�ve always been essentially one location with clients all over the world,� says Robert A. DiStefano, Managing Director, Information/Technology. For us to have billions of people�s dollars for investment purposes and be that remote from them can be accomplished only through real trust.� And trust, for a company that manages 14 million shareholder accounts, depends on round-the-clock information access.

"Our high-quality service and low-cost advantage has opened the door to clients dealing with us and their experience has engendered trust,� says DiStefano. �To maintain the levels of service and quality our clients have come to expect from Vanguard requires that our technology environment be bulletproof.�

"Our internal activity is solely information-based,� says DiStefano. "That�s why IT has grown to over 40 percent of the company�s budget. Yet we always have to remember we�re an investment company; we�re not a technology company. That means our technology has to be directly related to serving our clients. EMC Enterprise Storage fits this profile and has played a central role in building our information infrastructure.�