Trends in data storage give us insight into how the storage market is changing. Data storage systems have become a mission-critical component of enterprise IT infrastructure. Organizations will need to be prepared for the next wave of the data boom by adopting storage solutions that are agile, scalable, secure and flexible. You will hear fewer conversations about how and where to store data, and more about the value that data brings to your business. Below are 5 data storage trends that are characterizing the storage industry in 2021 and beyond.
1. The adoption of hybrid multicloud
Not everyone is ready to move all their data to the cloud. As we move forward, hybrid cloud continues to be the data storage strategy that helps organizations gain cost-effectiveness and increase data mobility between on-premises, public cloud and private cloud without compromising data integrity. With a multicloud strategy, organizations get the flexibility to collect, segregate and store data whether it’s on- or off-premises. This helps them accelerate time to market and easily deploy and manage their environments. Hybrid cloud storage solutions typically connect users to a variety of storage options, including file storage and sharing, object storage, block storage and backup systems. A hybrid cloud strategy is also helping organizations gain better insights into their data. A cloud environment coupled with AI learns from the data it gathers, makes predictions and troubleshoots problems before they occur.
2. Flash storage
According to the market overview report by Modor Intelligence, a market intelligence and advisory firm, the enterprise flash storage market is expected to register a CAGR of 13.67% over the forecast period (2021 – 2026). All-flash storage continues to trend upward this year among IT organizations as a major component of enterprise data centers across the world, mainly due to its advantages of low power consumption, high performance, scalability and ease of management. These four key advantages address the new requirements of modern data centers that need to handle mission-critical workloads.
With all-flash storage, you can unlock the power of Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), a protocol that’s bringing many advantages to data-driven businesses due to its superior ability to access high-speed storage media compared to legacy protocols. When you think about the massive growth of data, the performance and endurance of data become extremely important. NVMe is the ideal protocol for handling highly demanding and compute-intensive workloads with a smaller infrastructure footprint. With many organizations trying to do more with less in order to keep up with the current pace of data growth, IT teams are under tremendous pressure to save costs on data storage and compute. NVMe is delivering innovation by unlocking what businesses can do with their data, especially fast data for real-time analytics.
3. Investment in AI
Machine learning and deep learning allow AI to make data storage processing easier by helping companies accumulate multiple layers of data in assorted formats and providing valuable insights into their data. With AI, companies can control data storage across multiple platforms to achieve efficiencies that result in reduced costs and risk by minimizing the human element. They also reduce the time to process data to determine the value of that data.
4. Software-Defined Storage
You’re probably wondering, “How do I reduce my dependency on hardware devices?” The industry continues to move toward software-defined storage solutions that eliminate the complexity of hardware systems and help companies cut costs and optimize the value of their data. When you separate storage from its hardware, you can adjust its capacity as your data needs change.
5. Storage consumption models
It’s no surprise that the adoption of as a Service (aaS) models continues to be a hot trend. Storage as a Service (STaaS) is a cloud-based storage model that allows you to pay only for the capacity you use, eliminating the long-term financial liability of investing in storage infrastructure. In the past, you had to predict how much storage you needed in advance, resulting in possibility of spending money on storage capacity you would never use. With STaaS, you can access capacity on a subscription basis and scale up or down on demand, possibly resulting in significant cost-savings.
A look into the future of data storage
The value of data has changed; it now dictates what data is captured and stored, where it resides, how much you need to protect it, and how much access you give to every person. Each of these additional steps has several storage options that can result in more complexity. That’s why Sirius is here to help you navigate through all those options. One size does not fit all.
So how do I get started?
It takes an experienced, established and diverse partner to meet your unique needs. Sirius has a broad portfolio of architects, experts and consultants to help you decide what will work best for your organization. Sirius can help you make the most of your existing storage investments and manage day-to-day backup and recovery, allowing you to free up your resources and drive business forward.
If your organization needs help adopting a comprehensive data storage strategy, connect with a Sirius representative today. Our team of certified experts can help you optimize the value of your data and design, and implement storage solutions that meet your data storage goals.
