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The Stateof Software-
Defined StorageResearch Report
suse.com
February 2017
2
ExecutiveSummary
Data, data everywhere. This sums up the view of organisations across the world today. On the one hand, the wealth of
information now created by people and devices in our super-connected world offers massive opportunities for businesses
to unlock new sources of economic value and provide fresh insights. On the other hand, such data abundance also
presents significant problems for business – where do they keep all this data and what do they do with it? To better
understand how businesses across the globe are managing and storing data and addressing these challenges, SUSE
commissioned Loudhouse, an independent market research agency, to explore these issues in more depth.
The research finds that businesses are struggling with the complexity of short-term capacity add-ons. IT leaders need
greater simplicity to become more agile in how they serve the wider business.
Some of the key stats from the research are as follows:
The Infra-Struggle and the Need for Simplification
• The top two challenges in data management today
are security and governance (56%) alongside the
increasing volume of data (54%)
• Other issues are around back-up, disaster recovery
and archiving (46%) as well as performance and
availability (46%)
• More than two-thirds of businesses (68%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years - 63% say that
their business really struggles to make the link
between storage and agility
• The main data management priority for businesses
over the next 12 months is to simplify storage (54%).
Lower down the list, businesses are also focused on
reducing operating expenses on storage (48%) and
facilitating collaboration and innovation (45%)
The Great Storage Rethink
• Currently, the most used storage systems are hybrid
flash and disk (62%), followed by disk-based storage
(61%) and flash (39%). 11% currently use Software
Defined Storage (SDS)
• 82% say organisations in their sector need to rethink
their approach to storage given the growth in data
volumes to avoid their business being compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are overall cost (80%), performance concerns (74%)
and complexity (71%)
• 70% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months
and 83% say their organisation is receptive to new
approaches to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (92%)
• Furthermore, 92% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase (41% say “to a great extent”).
60% say that scrutiny from the wider business on
storage spend has increased over the last two years
Sample breakdown by country
Number of Interviews
US 200
Canada 100
UK 101
Germany 101
France 100
Italy 100
Nordics 100
China 100
Japan 100
Australia 100
India 100
3
Research Methodology
1202 senior IT decision makers across 11 countries completed an online survey in over eight weeks in late 2016. Respondents were screened to ensure they had some level of knowledge and understanding of SDS / other IT terms. Research was conducted by Loudhouse, an independent market research consultancy based in London.
The Promise of Software Defined Storage (SDS)
• The biggest benefits that businesses associate with
SDS are improved system performance, facilitation
of web, mobile and big data apps and services and
reduced support / maintenance costs
• 95% express some level of interest in SDS (38% are
very interested, 57% are quite interested) and almost
two-thirds of businesses (63%) say their organisation
will realistically begin to adopt an SDS approach in
the next 12 months
• The main concern about transitioning to SDS is
integration with existing systems (53%). Other
concerns are management challenges in defining the
scope of control (37%) and queries about pricing (33%)
• 72% say they are increasingly evaluating storage on
the basis of total cost of ownership
• Over 90% of businesses are considering / would
consider an open source approach to SDS
The report highlights the drivers for SDS and a considerable
appetite for evolving the storage business model in
organisations today. Data pressures have created a storage
tipping point for businesses who recognise an opportunity
to simplify their storage estate and embrace storage as an
enabler for digital transformation and agility.
Sample breakdown by company size
5000+Employees
15%
250-999Employees
44%
1000-4999Employees
41%
Sample breakdown by industry sector
Professional Services
Financial Services
Media / Broadcast
Retail / Distribution
Manufacturing / Construction
IT / Telecoms
Utilities / Energy
Consumer Products
Transport / Logistics
Healthcare
Government / Public Sector
Other
10%
10%
10%
10%
9%
9%
9%
9%
8%
7%
7%
2%
4
56%
54%
46%
46%
45%
39%
35%
26%
3%
Security and data governance (56%) emerge as the
biggest challenges alongside the increasing volume
of data (54%), as shown in Figure 1. As platforms and
communications tools proliferate and we enter an age
of increased regulatory scrutiny, problems of data
fragmentation become more keenly felt and effective
data management takes on a new level of urgency in
organisations. Issues around back up, disaster recovery
and archiving (46%) and performance / availability (46%)
simply add to the rather painful list of challenges in data
management today. The cost of storage (45%) and
storage capacity planning (39%) are challenges likely to
intensify with increasing data volumes.
Many would argue that data is the lifeblood of any digital
organisation. The integrity, availability and protection
of data are vital to business productivity and success.
Focusing on what to do with data is only one part of
the equation – deciding where to keep data is another
important consideration. Indeed, 73% agree that every
business is a storage business. This increases to 83% in
the US and 82% in China. Where there is data, so too there
must be storage. Most see volumes of data increasing in
their business each year, by up to 30% in some cases, as
shown in Figure 2. Worries about what this means in terms
of data management, storage and costs are inevitable.
One of the biggest pressures for IT teams is to be highly
agile, to move at lightning speed, adapting to market
conditions and business requirements in near real-time.
More than two thirds of businesses (68%) say demands
from the business for IT to be more agile have increased
in the last two years. A similar proportion (63%) say their
business struggles to make the link between storage
and agility, increasing to 76% in the US. Enterprise IT
departments, not always synonymous with rapid response
times and high levels of flexibility, through their storage
choices and provision, must now support this data
deluge. And they must continue to provide the high
level of performance users expect, all in a cost-effective
and scalable manner. Security and data governance and
agility, although seemingly at odds, are not mutually
exclusive. Both have the best interests of the business
at their heart and in this era of cloud, the idea of agile
storage, capable of easier deployment without lots of
steps to provision capacity and services to workload is a
natural evolution.
Data Management Challengesand the Infra-Struggle
Everyday, a massive 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created. And 90% of the data in the world today was created in the last two years. Managing this data, let alone trying to extract any value from it, is creating some serious headaches for organisations.
Figure 1: Key data management challenges
No change
19%
Decreasing
13%Up to 10%
19%
11%-30%
54%
51%-70%
7%
31%-50%
19%
By more than 70%
1%
Increasing
68%
Figure 2: Changing data volumes in business
Service and Data Governance
Iincreasing Volumes of Data
Challenges with Backup, Disaster Recovery and Archiving
Performance / Availability
Cosst of Storage
Storage Capacity Planning
Complex Administration
Silos of Storage
None of the Above
Change in volume of data each year
% increase indata growth
5
54%
48%
45%
43%
40%
37%
31%
3%
Figure 3: Data management priorities for the next 12 months
Simplifying Storage
Reducing Operating Expenses on Storage
Facilitation of Collaboration / Innovation / Flexibility
Addressing Performance Concerns
Increasing Resilience
Reducing Capital Expenditure on Storage
Addressing Scaliability Concerns
None of the Above
Against this backdrop of agility and cost pressures,
enterprise IT is focused on several storage priorities
over the next 12 months, as shown in Figure 3. At the
top of the to-do list is simplifying storage (54%). This is
particularly evident in India (67%) and Italy (60%).
Arguably, the single biggest enemy of agility is complexity.
Complexity occurs when technologies overlap one
another, when systems are modified, adapted and added
to in order to do things they were never intended to
do. Such “patchwork” infrastructure is now a reality for
many organisations and IT departments are left grappling
with increasingly sprawling IT estates that are difficult to
govern and manage.
ackling complexity is another top data management
priority. Organisations are focused on reducing operating
expenses on storage (48%), facilitating collaboration
and innovation (45%) and addressing issues around
performance (43%) and resilience (40%).
As French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery puts it
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to
add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” This is
simplification in a nutshell and with the rate of change and
growth of data, the need to tackle complexity is evident
on many different levels.
The SimplificationImperative
6
The GreatStorage Rethink
Figure 4: Types of storage systems currently in place
Figure 5: Frustrations with existing storage systems
Storage is top of mind for many organisations. 70% say
they have reviewed their approach and strategy for data
storage in the last 12 months. This is most likely to be the
case in China (84%) and the US (77%). Currently, the most
used storage systems are hybrid flash and disk (62%) and
disk based storage (61%). 39% currently use flash and 11%
use Software Defined Storage (see Figure 4).
Businesses, however, are seeing shortcomings in their
current approaches to storage. Given growth in data
volumes, 82% think they, and other businesses in their
sector, need to rethink their approach to storage to avoid
their business being compromised. The only market
not seeing this as a particularly pressing requirement is
Australia, although two-thirds (66%) of companies here
still say this is the case.
The biggest frustrations with current storage solutions
relate to the very issues that enterprise IT is focused on
resolving this year – namely around cost, complexity,
performance concerns and difficulties supporting
innovation and agility efforts (see Figure 5).
Organisations typically spend about 70 to 80% of their
annual IT budgets on items that just keep their systems
running (according to market intelligence firm IDC) and
are scrambling to keep up with the speed of technology
changes. Getting to grips with the Internet of Things
and the fragmentation of device usage on their networks
is intensifying the need for flexible, agile storage and
those businesses that cling to the traditional three-
tier data center architecture may find themselves at
a disadvantage. 78% of businesses admit they need a
flexible storage solution that can keep up with the ever-
changing demands of their data centre.
Encouragingly, as the digital economy disrupts traditional
business models, so IT departments are willing to embrace
new ways of doing things. 83% say that their organisation
is receptive to new approaches to storage. It could be
argued that this is business simply saying “enough is
enough” or the start of a storage revolution. Either way,
change is certainly afoot where storage is concerned.
62%
61%
39%
11%
Hybrid (flash & disk)
Disk Based
Flash
Software-defined Storage (SDS)
Overall Cost
Performance Concerns
Complex / Highly Fragmented
Inability to Support Innovation / Drive Value
Lack of Agility - Can’t Support Changes in the Business Environment
Lack of Scalibility - Can’t Effectively Grow with the Business
Being Tied into Legacy Vendors
Difficult to Manage
80%
74%
71%
68%
68%
66%
66%
66%
20%
26%
29%
32%
32%
34%
34%
35%
45%
46%
44%
49%
46%
45%
46%
43%
36%
28%
27%
19%
22%
20%
19%
22%
%Frustration
Not a FrustrationModerate FrustrationSignificant Frustration
7
According to market intelligence firm IDC, digital
transformation will drive “everything that matters in IT”
over the next few years and the “disruptive impact of
digital transformation is about to be felt in every industry”.
Nearly every business is undergoing some form of digital
transformation. This can range from mobilising the
workforce to creating online customer experiences, from
enabling electronic supply chains to offering real-time
access to financial statements.
In 2017, digital transformation has created a storage
tipping point. Almost all businesses (92%) are
concerned about data growth and its implications for
storage slowing down digital transformation initiatives
(see Figure 6). With so much hinging on digital
transformation, this seems a key catalyst in a storage
rethink across industries as businesses grapple to get the
digital edge on competitors.
Another factor that is driving businesses to review their
storage options is how they manage growing storage
costs as capacity requirements increase. Dealing with the
burden of big data by purchasing new storage systems
as current systems reach capacity can end up being
inefficient, costly as well as creating further complexity
and bottlenecks in the business. This is a concern for 92%
of businesses today (35% say “to a great extent”, 57% say
“to some extent”). Scrutiny from the wider business on
storage spend has increased in the last two years for 60%
of businesses, and will no doubt continue to increase as
data volumes further increase. This is particularly the case
in India (74%).
Digital Transformation and Storage
Figure 6: Worries about data growth and implications for storage slowing down digital transformation initiatives
Figure 7: Change in scrutiny on storage spend in last 2 years
Not At All
8%IncreasedSignificantly
19%
DecreasedSignificantly
10%DecreasedModerately
11%
No Change
19%
IncreasedModerately
41%
To a GreatExtent
35%
To SomeExtent
57%
8
The Promise ofSoftware Defined Storage
Figure 9: Timeframe in which organisation will realistically begin to adopt an SDS approach
Analysts predict that the global Software Defined
Storage (SDS) market will surpass $7 billion by 2020
(Technavio, August 2016). There are several key market
trends that businesses recognise as accelerating SDS
adoption – most notably, cloud adoption (54%), big data
(50%), mobility (47%) and Internet of Things (46%), as
shown in Figure 8. More than one in three organisations
(35%) attributes growing SDS adoption with industry
appetite for open source.
Unstructured data is a big issue for businesses today and
analytics solutions, when integrated with SDS solutions
for big data management can streamline the management
of unstructured data for business intelligence, reducing
costs and boosting business agility. As cloud becomes
mainstream, businesses have realised its potential
in addressing critical pain points such as scalability,
availability, flexibility and cost and are now looking to SDS
to mirror these benefits by building scalable, reliable, full
features and high performance storage infrastructure.
SDS is certainly poised to disrupt the traditional enterprise
IT infrastructure model and we’ve already seen that
companies are under immense pressure to replace legacy
IT infrastructure with simpler, innovative models that can
cut costs and drive agility. 81% of businesses say that the
business case for SDS is compelling. The top five benefits
that businesses expect to see from adopting an SDS
approach are:
1) Improved system performance
2) Facilitates the development and deployment of
modern web, mobile and big data applications
and services
3) Reduced support / maintenance costs
4) Supports innovation / open business model
5) Ease of deployment
Other benefits expected include transparency and
control with the ability to monitor and manage storage
consumption, reduced capex and and improved scalability.
Against this backdrop, there certainly seems to be market
momentum in the direction of SDS with 95% expressing
some level of interest in SDS (38% are very interested, 58%
are quite interested). Almost two-thirds of businesses
saying their organisation will realistically begin to adopt an
SDS approach in the next 12 months (see Figure 9). The
form that this transition and approach takes will no doubt
vary in every business, in much the same way that each
vendor has a slightly different pitch about SDS.
Figure 8: Industry trends seen to be accelerating SDS adoption
54%
50%
47%
46%
35%
29%
25%
4%
Cloud Adoption
Big Data Analytics Deep Learning
Mobility
The Internet of Things
Appetite for open source
Flash Everywhere
Convergence
None of the Above
Within the Next 6 Months
23%
In More Than 3 Years’ Time / Not in the Foreseeable Future
10%
In the Next2-3 Years
3%
In the Next1-2 Years
29%
In the Next 6-12 Months
40%
9
Whilst enthusiasm is evident, businesses are quick to
highlight several challenges they see in transitioning
to SDS as shown in Figure 10. Solutions that separate
storage software from hardware can often place the
burden of integration on the customer and it is this
integration with existing systems that emerges as the
biggest single concern for companies (53%). A true
SDS approach does deliver proven interoperability with
unified management between storage software and
certified hardware platforms from a common interface,
thereby providing seamless integration into many existing
IT environments but it seems customers need more
convincing that integration will be easy.
Further concerns are around management challenges in
defining the scope of control (37%). A core objective of
SDS is to make it much easier to provision and use storage
resources but this does require organisations to change
their operating model first and to consider standardised
environments that they can manage and upgrade using
the appropriate change management processes.
Queries around pricing (33%) are another potential
barrier to SDS adoption. The cost argument is compelling
as capacity needs grow and the end user can tailor
the best possible configuration at the minimum price
and operational costs. As an extension to pricing and
reflecting industry debates about storage capex and
opex, almost three-quarters (72%) of businesses say that
they are increasingly evaluating storage on total cost of
ownership. One third of businesses see a challenge in the
lack of consistency of definition of SDS in the industry.
This is likely created as any number of vendors shape
the definition to fit with their offerings and will result in
confusion about pricing and standards. This will likely
reflect itself in queries around pricing, among other things.
As the market is evolving, however, there does seem to be
more consistency around the definition and the interplay
between different flavours of SDS becomes clearer.
Whilst there is certainly some level of confusion in the
market about the options available, with 70% admitting
that their business needs advice as to how to best manage
their storage needs, many of these barriers will recede as
use cases become more widely available, vendors work
to educate customers and customers can more readily
separate myth from reality.
Perceived Challenges withSoftware Defined Storage
Figure 10: Potential challenges in transitioning to SDS
53%
37%
33%
32%
25%
23%
16%
7%
Integration with Existing Systems
Management Challenges in Defining Scope of Control
Queries Around Pricing
Lack of Consistency of Definition in Industry
Too Many Vendors
Business Does Not See the Case for Change
Many Vendors Do Not Have An Offer / Appealing Offer
None of the Above
10
Appetite forOpen Source
The open source community is very healthy, active, and
collaborative and can potentially play a significant role in
how the SDS market evolves. Along with cloud, big data
analytics, mobility and Internet of Things, the appetite for
open source is seen by over a third of businesses (35%) as
an industry trend that is accelerating the adoption of SDS.
Over 90% of businesses are considering / would consider
an open source approach to SDS (see Figure 11).
Those who would not consider an open source approach
are concerned that it is too risky, there are unclear cost
benefits or a lack of use cases to relate to. These are very
common concerns in any evolving technology space but
with the majority enthusiastic about open source, it seems
the notion of freedom of choice and lower costs is too
compelling to ignore.
Figure 11: Views on an open source approach to SDS
We Would Not Consider This
7%
We WouldConsider This
51%
We Are Considering This
42%
11
Businesses are craving simplification with their storage.
Complexity is thwarting agility, innovation and the ability
to add value at a strategic level for IT leaders. With digital
transformation, a key focus for most organisations over
the next couple of years, businesses can no longer afford
for their storage systems to be holding back their digital
plans. As such, storage has reached a tipping point
and businesses recognise that the next 12 months is the
window to change their approach to storage to avoid their
business activities being compromised. Many anticipate
moving towards SDS by 2018 and also considering an
open source approach.
No two businesses are the same. Storage priorities and
transitional challenges will vary depending on current set
ups, attitudes to risk and appetite for transformation. It
is clear, however, that businesses are largely united in
their desire to stamp out complexity and to find a better
way of doing things when it comes to storage. Against
this backdrop, SDS certainly holds a lot of promise. Add
to this, an open source approach and SDS is a very
compelling option for businesses today.
Conclusion
2017 looks set to be a pivotal year for businesses as they review and begin to overhaul their storage infrastructure. Years of quick fix solutions in response to growing data volumes have resulted in messy patchwork or “accidental” storage architectures which are now proving both ineffective and inefficient.
12
APPENDIXRegional Summaries
13
The US is feeling the impact of growing data volumes particularly keenly and businesses are feeling the pressure to be agile whilst drowning in data more strongly than in other regions. Simplification of storage is the focus of US companies and with many still running disk-based storage, there is widespread recognition that rethinking storage is required to avoid business being compromised. US companies are also having their storage costs heavily scrutinised. As with other regions, there are high levels of interest in SDS. There are concerns about vendors causing confusion around SDS. This lack of common definition and use cases are potentially slowing otherwise significant SDS momentum in the US.
Current Approaches to Storage• The top two challenges in data management today in
US companies are the same as the global average –
namely security and governance (65%) alongside the
increasing volume of data (65%)
• 76% are seeing the volume of data increasing each
year, higher than the global average and this is
typically increasing at a rate of 32% per year, again
higher than the global average
• US companies are the most likely to consider that
every business is a storage business (83%)
• 75% say demands from the business for IT to be more
agile have increased in the last two years, higher than
the global average of 68%. Yet, 76% say that their
business really struggles to make the link between
storage and agility, higher than in other regions
• The main data management priority for businesses
over the next 12 months is to simplify storage (50%),
followed by reducing operating expenses on storage
(44%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems are disk-
based storage (66%), hybrid flash and disk (61%),
followed by flash (47%). 18% say they currently use
Software Defined Storage (SDS), the highest of all
regions in the research study
• 85% think organisations in their sector need to rethink
their approach to storage to avoid their business
being compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are performance concerns (77%), complexity / high
levels of fragmentation (74%) and overall cost (72%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 77% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months and
80% say their organisation is receptive to new
approaches to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (90%)
• Furthermore, 93% are worried about how they
manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase. 67% of US companies say that
scrutiny from the wider business on storage spend
has increased in the last two years
• The biggest benefits that businesses associate
with SDS are improved system performance and
supporting innovation
• 98% say that they are either quite or very interested
in SDS. The main concern about transitioning to SDS
is integration with existing systems (56%) and a lack
of consistency in the definition of SDS (33%). 75% say
that vendors are causing a lot of confusion around
SDS and 65% think there is not enough data about
real world usage of SDS
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research Summary
United States
14
Businesses in Canada are struggling with two sometimes conflicting data management challenges –performance and availability, and security and data governance. Against this backdrop, the pressure for IT to be more agile is keenly felt and a lack of agility is seen to be a particular gripe with existing storage systems. Businesses, however, do not easily make the link between storage and agility and are heavily focused on reducing operational costs on storage. Although less likely to have reviewed their storage in the last year than other regions, Canadian companies readily articulate storage pain-points and see SDS as a compelling proposition that offers a different approach to managing data.
Current Approaches to Storage• In Canada, the biggest two challenges with data
management today are performance and availability
(52%) alongside security and data governance (47%)
• 70% say that they are facing increased demands from
the business for IT to be more agile compared to two
years ago. However, 69% say their business struggles
to make the link between storage and agility (only the
US is higher in this regard)
• As with many other regions in the study, the main
data management priority for businesses over the
next 12 months is to simplify storage (61%). This is
followed by a focus on reducing operating expenses
on storage (50%)
• In Canada, the most used storage systems are hybrid
flash and disk (65%), followed by disk-based storage
(64%) and flash (36%). 8% currently use Software
Defined Storage (SDS), compared to an 11% global
average
• 84% think organisations in their sector need to rethink
their approach to storage in the next 12 months to
avoid their business being compromised
• The three biggest frustrations with existing storage
solutions are overall cost (84%), being tied into legacy
vendors (75%) and a lack of agility (73%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 61% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months (lower
than the global average of 70%). Despite this, 87%
say their organisation is receptive to new approaches
to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (93%)
• Furthermore, 94% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase. 69% say that scrutiny from the
wider business on storage spend has increased in the
last two years (only India is higher in this regard)
• The biggest benefits that businesses in Canada
associate with SDS are improved system performance
and supporting innovation
• 88% agree that the business case for SDS is
compelling and they see industry trends like big data
(54%), cloud adoption (50%) and mobility (46%)
accelerating adoption of SDS
• As with other regions, the main concern about
transitioning to SDS is integration with existing
systems (56%). This is followed by queries about
pricing (39%)
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research Summary
Canada
15
UK companies see increasing volumes of data as a key challenge and are also concerned about the data governance and security issues that this brings. UK companies are less likely than other regions to find it difficult to make the link between storage and agility but are troubled by storage slowing down digital transformation efforts. Indeed, UK companies see “supporting innovation” as a key benefit of SDS and recognise the need to rethink their storage approach to keep their business plans on track. Future-proofed solutions, as well as open source approaches to SDS, are attractive to UK businesses as there are significant concerns about rising storage costs as capacity requirements increase.
Current Approaches to Storage• The top two challenges in data management today
for UK companies are security and governance (58%)
alongside the increasing volume of data (56%)
• Two-thirds of UK businesses (66%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years. Over half of
businesses (58%) say they struggle to make the link
between storage and agility
• 71% of UK businesses are seeing the volume of data
in their organisation increasing each year. Along
with most regions in the study, UK companies are
particularly focused on the simplification of storage
(58%) over the next 12 months as well as reducing the
operating expenses on storage (55%)
• In the UK, the most used storage systems are hybrid
flash and disk (65%), followed by disk storage (63%)
and flash (39%). 9% currently use Software Defined
Storage (SDS) – 11% being the global average in this
study
• 82% think organisations in their sector need to rethink
their approach to storage in the next 12 months to
avoid business being compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are overall cost (83%), performance concerns (77%)
and an inability to support innovation (74%)
Future Approaches to Storage• Two thirds (66%) of UK companies say they have
reviewed their approach and strategy for data storage
in the last 12 months and 87% say their organisation is
receptive to new approaches to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (91%)
• Half (51%) say that scrutiny from the wider business
on storage spend has increased in the last two years.
91% are generally concerned about how they manage
growing storage costs as capacity requirements
increase.
• The biggest benefits that businesses associate with
SDS are improved system performance and ease of
deployment
• 92% say that they are either quite or very interested
in SDS
• The main concern about transitioning to SDS is
integration with existing systems (59%) and a lack of
consistency in definition (34%). 78% of UK companies
think that vendors are causing a lot of confusion
around SDS and 60% think there is not enough data
around real world usage of SDS
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research Summary
United Kingdom
16
Current Approaches to Storage• For Germany, increasing volumes of data (61%) and
security and data governance (59%) are the top two
challenges in data management today. 77% agree that
every business is a storage business to some degree.
• 73% of businesses say that demands from the
business for IT to be more agile have increased in the
last two years (only the US is higher in this regard) yet
63% say that their business finds it difficult to make
the link between storage and agility
• The main data management priorities for German
businesses over the next 12 months are to increase
resilience (62%) and facilitate collaboration and
innovation (45%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems in German
companies are hybrid flash and disk (71%), followed
by disk-based storage (56%) and flash (44%). 12%
currently use Software Defined Storage (SDS)
• 85% think they need to rethink their approach to
storage in the next year to avoid their business being
compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are lack of scalability (75%), overall cost (74%) and
performance concerns (65%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 75% of companies in Germany have reviewed their
approach and strategy for data storage in the last 12
months and 89% say their organisation is receptive
to new approaches to storage. 78% of German
businesses think they need a flexible storage solution
to keep up with changing demands of their data centre
• As with other regions, almost all German businesses
are concerned about data growth and its implications
for storage slowing down digital transformation
initiatives (94%)
• Furthermore, 92% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase. 57% say that scrutiny from the
wider business on storage spend has increased in the
last two years
• The biggest benefits that German businesses
associate with SDS are improved system performance
and ease of deployment
• 76% think the business case for SDS is compelling
and almost all say that they are either quite or very
interested in SDS (97%)
• In Germany, the main concerns about transitioning
to SDS is integration with existing systems (58%)
and management challenges in defining the scope of
control (48%)
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research SummaryResearch Summary
German companies like those in other regions are juggling requirements to be increasingly agile and flexible in their storage provision with the need for data governance and high levels of security. Increasing resilience and facilitating innovation and collaboration are the data management focus areas for the next 12 months. Frustrations around the lack of scalability of existing storage systems are felt acutely by German businesses, who like other regions, see this as a barrier to digital transformation efforts and general system performance levels in the business. German companies are very receptive to new storage approaches, particularly where these can effectively marry agility, data governance and scalability.
Germany
17
Companies in France are looking for simplicity when it comes to storage. Complexity and data fragmentation are key frustrations with existing storage systems and data governance is seen as a particular challenge as data volumes increase. Whilst there is a high level of interest in SDS, the biggest concern about transitioning to a new storage approach is around the process itself and how SDS integrates with existing systems, without adding yet more complexity. Ease of deployment is something that companies in France are likely to see as a core benefit of SDS and one that needs to be highlighted and validated to facilitate adoption.
Current Approaches to Storage• In France, the top two challenges in data management
are security and data governance (51%) alongside the
increasing volume of data (43%)
• 72% of French businesses say that demands from
the business for IT to be more agile have increased in
the last two years - 61% say that their business really
struggles to make the link between storage and agility
• For France, the top two data management priorities
for businesses over the next 12 months are to facilitate
collaboration / innovation (56%) and to simplify
storage (53%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems are disk-
based storage (62%), followed by hybrid flash
and disk (58%) and flash (30%). 8% currently use
Software Defined Storage (SDS)
• 80% think organisations in their sector they need
to rethink their approach to storage in the next 12
months to avoid business being compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are overall cost (79%), performance concerns (76%)
and complexity (74%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 73% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months
and 87% say their organisation is receptive to new
approaches to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (93%)
• Furthermore, 95% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase. Around half of French
businesses (52%) say that scrutiny from the wider
business on storage spend has increased in the last
two years
• The biggest benefits that businesses associate
with SDS are ease of deployment and reduced
maintenance costs
• 95% say that they are either quite or very interested
in SDS with cloud usage (54%), mobility (45%) and
IoT (38%) seen as key accelerators in the market for
SDS adoption
• As with other regions, the biggest concern about
transitioning to SDS is integration with existing
systems (45%). Queries about pricing (38%) are also
an issue in France
• 87% of businesses in France would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research Summary
France
18
In Italy, businesses are focused on simplification and addressing performance concerns as systems creak under growing volumes of data. Problems with existing systems include cost, scalability and performance issues. In particular, Italian companies are highly concerned about how they manage increasing storage costs as capacity requirements increase. Against this backdrop, Italian companies are particularly receptive to new approaches to storage, such as SDS, and recognise the urgency with which they need to address shortcomings with current systems as data volumes grow.
Current Approaches to Storage• As with other regions, companies in Italy see the
top two challenges in data management today as
increasing volumes of data (56%) and security and
data governance (51%)
• More than two-thirds of businesses (67%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years. More than half
(58%) say that their business struggles to make the
link between storage and agility
• The main data management priority for Italian
businesses over the next 12 months is to simplify
storage (60%), followed by addressing performance
concerns (57%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems are hybrid
flash and disk (69%), followed by disk storage (51%)
and flash (41%). 6% currently use Software Defined
Storage (SDS), the lowest use of all the regions
together with India
• There is a high recognition that organisations in their
sector need to rethink their approach to storage to
avoid business being compromised (85%)
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are overall cost (88%), lack of scalability (75%) and
performance concerns (73%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 68% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months
and 93% say their organisation is receptive to new
approaches to storage
• As in other markets, almost all businesses in Italy are
concerned about data growth and its implications
for storage slowing down digital transformation
initiatives (95%)
• Furthermore, 98% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase, the highest of all regions in
the study
• The biggest benefits that Italian businesses associate
with SDS are improved system performance and
facilitation of the development of web, mobile and big
data apps and services
• 97% of companies in Italy say that they are either
quite or very interested in SDS, with 80% saying the
business case for SDS is compelling
• The main concern about transitioning to SDS is
integration with existing systems (57%). Other
concerns are around management challenges in
defining the scope of control (42%)
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research Summary
Italy
19
Companies in the Nordics, compared to other regions in the study, are less pressured by growing data volumes and demands from the business to be more agile. Along with security and data governance, they see the cost of storage as a key challenge for them in terms of data management. As relatively high users of disk-based storage, their main frustrations with current storage systems are cost, complexity and the ability to support innovation. Simplifying storage and facilitating collaboration and innovation are storage priorities this year and Nordic businesses, whilst less urgent in their need to rethink storage are receptive to new approaches and open minded about SDS and open source.
Current Approaches to Storage• For the Nordics, the top two challenges in data
management today are security and data governance
(49%) and the cost of storage (41%)
• More than half of Nordic businesses (52%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years
• The main data management priority for Nordic
businesses over the next 12 months is to simplify
storage (50%). This is followed by facilitating
collaboration and innovation (43%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems are disk-
based storage (62%) followed by hybrid flash and disk
(39%) and flash (27%). 8% currently use Software
Defined Storage (SDS)
• 80% of Nordic companies think organisations in their
sector need to rethink their approach to storage to
avoid business being compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are overall cost (84%), complexity / high levels of
fragmentation (74%) and the inability to support
innovation (70%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 53% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months,
the lowest of all the regions in the study. Despite
this, 78% say their organisation is receptive to new
approaches to storage
• 87% of Nordic companies are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives
• Furthermore, 78% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase
• The biggest benefits that businesses associate with
SDS are improved system performance and reduced
maintenance costs
• 87% show some level of interest in SDS whilst 63%
consider the business case for SDS to be compelling.
Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
• The main concerns about transitioning to SDS
is integration with existing systems (39%) and
management challenges in defining the scope of
control (29%) These are lower than other regions but
reflect the fact that relatively few have reviewed their
storage approach in the last year
Research Summary
Nordics
20
Businesses in China are more likely to cite challenges around increasing data volumes and security and data governance than other regions. They are especially focused on facilitating collaboration and innovation in their data management practices in the next 12 months and see benefits of SDS in terms of supporting innovation and facilitating the development of apps and services. Chinese companies, very frustrated by the lack of agility in current storage systems, are most likely to have reviewed their approach to storage in the last 12 months and are receptive to new approaches, such as SDS.
Current Approaches to Storage• In China, the top two challenges in data management
today are security and data governance (70%)
alongside the increasing volume of data (69%), both
cited more frequently in China than in other regions in
the study. 82% of Chinese businesses agree that every
business is a storage business to a degree
• More than two-thirds of businesses (69%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years - 64% say that
their business really struggles to make the link
between storage and agility
• The main data management priority for Chinese
businesses over the next 12 months is to facilitate
collaboration and innovation (66%) and to simplify
storage (52%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems in Chinese
companies are hybrid flash and disk (87%). This is
higher than in other regions in the study. 61% use disk
storage and 37% use flash. 7% currently use Software
Defined Storage (SDS)
• 79% think organisations in their sector need to rethink
their approach to storage in the next 12 months to
avoid business being compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are lack of agility (76%), performance concerns (74%)
and overall cost (70%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 84% have reviewed their approach and strategy
for data storage in the last 12 months, the highest
of all the regions in the study and 95% say their
organisation is receptive to new approaches to
storage, again the highest of all the regions
• 88% of businesses in China are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
their digital transformation
• Furthermore, 91% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase. 58% say that scrutiny from the
wider business on storage spend has increased in the
last two years
• The biggest benefits that Chinese businesses see
with SDS are the facilitation of the development of
web, mobile and big data apps and services and
supporting innovation
• 91% say that the business case for SDS is compelling
• The main concern about transitioning to SDS is
integration with existing systems (64%). Other
concerns are around the lack of consistency of
definition (34%). 62% think vendors are causing a lot
of confusion around SDS
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
• 89% say that their business needs help and advice
in how best to manage growing storage needs, the
highest of all regions
Research Summary
China
21
Businesses in Japan, whilst grappling with issues of growing data volumes and security and data governance, are particularly focused on the cost aspects associated with storage. High costs are the biggest frustration with existing storage systems and over the next 12 months, Japanese businesses are focused on reducing both operating expenses and capital expenditure on storage. They see an urgent need to review their current approach to storage although there are some concerns about building a business case for change. Japanese companies are very open to new storage methods, including SDS (and open source), to help them better manage growing storage costs as capacity requirements increase.
Current Approaches to Storage• The top two challenges in data management today
for Japanese companies are increasing volumes
of data (56%) coupled with data security and
governance (51%)
• More than two-thirds of businesses (67%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years - 58% say their
business finds it difficult to make the link between
storage and agility
• In Japan, the two data management priorities for
businesses over the next 12 months are both cost
related – reducing operating expenses on storage
(54%) and reducing capital expenditure on storage
(42%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems are disk-
based storage (65%), closely followed by hybrid flash
and disk (57%) and flash (50%). 15% currently use
Software Defined Storage (SDS), second only to the US
• 86% think organisations in their sector need to rethink
their approach to storage to avoid business being
compromised, the highest of all the regions
• In Japan, the main frustrations with existing storage
solutions are overall cost (82%), being tied into legacy
vendors (73%) and performance concerns (73%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 68% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months
and 82% say their organisation is receptive to new
approaches to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (93%)
• Furthermore, 93% are generally concerned about
how they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase. More than half (56%) say that
scrutiny from the wider business on storage spend
has increased in the last two years
• The biggest benefits that Japanese businesses
associate with SDS are improved system performance
and reduced support / maintenance costs
• 88% say that they are either quite or very interested
in SDS
• The main concern about transitioning to SDS is
integration with existing systems (53%). Second to this
is the business not seeing the case for change (32%)
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research Summary
Japan
22
In Australia, the cost of storage is a concern as volumes of data continue to increase. Many businesses are finding their storage costs coming under growing scrutiny. They are focused both on simplification of storage and reducing operational expenses on storage which is a key frustration with existing systems. Compared to those in other markets, Australian companies are less likely to have reviewed their data storage approach in the last 12 months but recognise the next 12 months is an important time to rethink storage and ensure this doesn’t slow down digital transformation progress. As with other markets, the appetite and enthusiasm for SDS is there and is only set to increase as Australian companies take the time to review the options available and how they best fit the needs of their businesses, now and in the future.
Current Approaches to Storage• For Australian companies, the top two challenges in
data management today are the cost of storage (55%)
and increasing volumes of data (44%)
• Around two thirds of businesses (65%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years. The same
proportion however (65%) says that their business
struggles to make the link between storage and agility
• The main data management priority for Australian
businesses over the next 12 months is to simplify
storage (58%). This is followed by reducing operating
expenses on storage (46%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems are disk
based storage (64%), followed by hybrid flash and
disk (45%) and flash (38%). 13% say they currently
use Software Defined Storage (SDS)
• 78% think organisations in their sector need to rethink
their approach to storage in the next 12 months to
avoid business being compromised
• The main frustrations with existing storage solutions
are overall cost (89%), performance concerns (84%)
and complexity (79%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 59% have reviewed their approach and strategy for
data storage in the last 12 months, lower than many
markets in the study. 66% say their organisation is
receptive to new approaches to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (92%)
• Most (92%) are generally concerned about how
they manage growing storage costs as capacity
requirements increase. 68% say that scrutiny from the
wider business on storage spend has increased in the
last two years
• The biggest benefits that businesses associate with
SDS are improved system performance and the
facilitation of the development of web, mobile and big
data apps and services
• 76% say the business case for SDS is compelling
although 69% say vendors are causing a lot of
confusion around SDS
• In Australia, the main concerns about transitioning
to SDS is integration with existing systems (45%)
and management challenges in defining the scope of
control (35%)
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
Research Summary
Australia
23
In India, there are evident challenges with back up, disaster recovery and archiving as well as with security and data governance. Performance is a particular concern and there are also frustrations with current systems not supporting innovation, as well as with overall costs. Indian companies are the most likely to consider their storage costs coming under greater scrutiny from the wider business so cost will play a major role in any decisions to overhaul storage. There is appetite for SDS and for an open source approach therein, with benefits around improved performance and supporting innovation particularly compelling to the Indian market.
Current Approaches to Storage• In India, the top two challenges in data management
are security and data governance (62%) and
challenges with back up, disaster recovery and
archiving (59%)
• More than two-thirds of businesses (69%) say that
demands from the business for IT to be more agile
have increased in the last two years - 65% say their
business struggles to make the link between storage
and agility
• The main data management priorities for Indian
businesses over the next 12 months are to simplify
storage (67%) and to address performance concerns
(65%)
• Currently, the most used storage systems are hybrid
flash and disk (69%), followed by disk storage (54%)
and flash (33%). 6% currently use Software Defined
Storage (SDS)
• 74% think organisations in their sector need to
rethink their approach to storage within the next
year to avoid business being compromised
• The biggest frustrations with existing storage solutions
are overall cost (86%). Indian companies also voice
frustrations with the inability to support innovation
(80%) and being tied into legacy vendors (79%)
Future Approaches to Storage• 76% say they have reviewed their approach and
strategy for data storage in the last 12 months
and 71% say their organisation is receptive to new
approaches to storage
• Almost all businesses are concerned about data
growth and its implications for storage slowing down
digital transformation initiatives (97%)
• 90% are worried about how they manage growing
storage costs as capacity requirements increase. 74%
say that scrutiny from the wider business on storage
spend has increased in the last two years, the highest
of all the regions
• The biggest benefits that businesses associate
with SDS are improved system performance and
supporting innovation
• 89% think the business case for SDS is compelling and
almost all (96%) show some level of interest in SDS.
• Over 90% of businesses would consider an open
source approach to SDS
• In India, the main concerns about transitioning to
SDS are management challenges in defining the
scope of control (60%) and integration with existing
systems (58%)
Research Summary
India
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