01732 759725 32 Deep Dive: Data Storage focusing on a software-led approach. The adoption of software-defined storage has enabled more vendors to enter the storage market. The increase in storage vendors is raising the bar for competition and driving innovation.” Jimmy Tam, CEO of Peer Software, points out that the move from hardware to software has weakened the hold of proprietary systems: “Decoupling hardware and software has enabled freedom and flexibility for customers adopting softwaredefined storage technologies. Included in these benefits are independence from proprietary systems from a single vendor, enhanced scalability and increased data mobility across arrays locally, as well as geographically dispersed.” Scality’s Speciale suggests that as a result vendors are having to balance freedom of choice against complexity: “For vendors, it does force some choices in the degree of hardware freedom. The more degrees of freedom offered, the higher the complexity in software development and testing. Customers ultimately value freedom of choice, not only for the initial deployments, but so that they can buy the most cost-effective hardware later, when scaling out the system, or get preferential pricing from other platform vendors.” Whatever the trade-offs vendors and customers have to make, ATTO Technology’s Klein believes the transition is opening up opportunities for vendors and customers alike: “It’s like any other aspect of technology – vendors and customers adapt. For vendors, it presents a path to create and develop new products. For customers, it presents new solutions that potentially work better for them and at lower cost.” Software challenges Clearly, the move from data storage hardware to software presents challenges too, as Panasas’ Whitaker explains: “The impacts will be felt strongest across reliability, performance and supportability. The challenge with software-defined is with performance. Being abstracted from the underlying hardware means there are limitations on how that hardware can be utilised.” Acronis’ Ivanyuk adds: “Software is also more prone to vulnerabilities, so theoretically software-defined storage is more vulnerable to cyberattacks. This is something to look for, but not a showstopper.” Several experts highlight the importance of making sure staff have the ‘know-how’ to make the transition to software-defined storage. These include Scality’s Speciale, who cites the shift in skill sets involved in going from legacy and proprietary systems management to newer solutions, and Kerns from Futurum Group, who identifies a need for forward planning: “Ultimately it becomes a staffing issue. There are increased support requirements, and it may require someone with more capabilities than a storage administrator.” Andy Buss, Senior Research Director at IDC, says: “For software-defined storage to be a success, companies need to be driving the full benefits of automation and AIOps that come with it. IDC research shows that only around a quarter of companies in Europe today have the skills as well as a sufficiently transformed IT infrastructure to be able to achieve this. To change this takes time, investment and training and high-level management support.” What’s next for data storage? Software’s evolution has already caused a degree of disruption, but few doubt there is more to come. Typical is Acronis’ Ivanyuk, who says: “The industry has to evolve and the hardware solutions market will shrink. Software-defined solutions will grow in numbers and features, dominating the market.” As this happens, IDC Europe’s Buss expects to see a corresponding shift from data storage to data management: “As storage becomes more software defined, we expect to see more emphasis on data management and manipulation rather than focusing on architecting complex storage systems.” Spectra Logic’s Hoover also envisages a decline in hardware-only storage systems as customers adopt systems capable of unifying data, whatever the location: “The option for organisations to deploy a one-vendor software storage solution for applications running in multiple locations will simplify the procurement and management of storage, while reducing costs. This will in turn drive storage vendors to be competitive by focusing on innovation and more rapidly delivering advanced features. With the increased adoption of software-defined/software-based storage, we will likely notice a decline in hardware-only storage solutions.” Peer Software’s Jimmy Tam adds: “As much as most companies want a one-size-fits-all approach for enterprise storage, the reality is that the future of storage will be even more distributed across edge, datacentre and cloud since for performance reasons the data will need to be close to where the end-user or application resides or where the data is either created or analysed.” Whatever the future holds, Bloor’s Norfolk points out that there is bound to be a degree of M&A activity: “Established players will need to evolve fast; new players will have opportunities and may then get bought by the big established players.” Software in data storage has been a disruptive force thus far, causing dynamic competitive shifts resulting in significant innovation, the liberation of resources, greater efficiency and the freedom to access and manage data from any location. As the transition from hardware to software continues, vendors and end users alike will need to carry on adapting and evolving to address the challenges and opportunities this change brings. Roy Illsley David Norfolk Jeff Whitaker Deanna Hoover Jimmy Tam Andy Buss
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