IT strategies are changing, with a growing number of organizations moving toward consumption-based delivery models. In the report Enterprise Storage as a Service Is Transforming IT Operating Models, Gartner delved into the needs and expectations that are driving this seismic shift.
According to Gartner, more than 70% of corporate enterprise-grade storage capacity will be deployed as consumption-based service offerings, up from less than 40% in 2020. As a result, IT leaders need to ensure that their organization’s IT services are highly scalable and available while driving down costs and increasing efficiencies in the operating model.
Moving Beyond CAPEX
Simply put, IT leaders now expect cloud-like services. They’re no longer willing to accept the pitfalls of the CAPEX-purchased infrastructure approach to provisioning IT services. Outmoded capacity-planning strategies based on a “best-guess” prediction of future data storage demands won’t suffice. Long lead times to procure additional capacity and performance hamper the agility and flexibility organizations need for rapid software development and deployment of new services and applications. And the tactic of overprovisioning infrastructure doesn’t help either. Unnecessary hardware purchases are made with money that could be better used elsewhere.
To achieve their operational objectives and drive down costs, IT leaders reduce:
- IT storage administration and deliver flexible services focused on business outcomes.
- CAPEX over investment and enable the broader company to protect cash liquidity with true OPEX-based, hybrid-cloud-capable consumption models that have a simple pricing structure based on only what is consumed.
- The reliance on the internal IT team to manage basic, routine tasks by adopting automation so the team can focus on higher-value activities and strategic initiatives that improve productivity and drive down operating costs.
- Risks associated with data migration to the cloud, refreshed platforms, or the latest hybrid-cloud strategy.
The Advantages of STaaS
Managed storage as a service (STaaS) eliminates significant costs associated with IT storage admin. It also supports the growth in adoption of consumption-based service offerings as they continue to accelerate over the next five years. As a result, IT leaders are at a turning point in how they will plan strategically for the future.
Adoption of storage “cloudification” strategies is increasing as vendor-managed, cloud-native storage offerings come to market. STaaS solutions like deliver safe, reliable, and simple data migration to and from the cloud. It also enables you to implement hybrid-cloud strategies cost-effectively and with ease.
With one subscription, you can run virtual storage arrays natively on AWS and Azure public cloud. With Pure Cloud Block Store™, you can move your data seamlessly, safeguard it with robust data protection, and enjoy a consistent experience in both AWS and Azure.
STaaS customers need to retain control over their data, their costs, and service delivery to their consumers (whether that’s internal business users or external customers). Clear visibility into all facets of the STaaS subscription is necessary. Services for monitoring data storage are table stakes in providing the required transparency. Your STaaS solution should offer:
- AI/ML functionality to fix issues before they impact services.
- Analytics tools to report on consumption, usage and critical service provision metrics.
- APIs to automate much of the administration, thus increasing system stability and removing change-related incidents and service interruptions.
- Multi-protocol support for a wide range of workloads and applications (containerized and standalone).
STaaS customers also expect nondisruptive hardware and software upgrades, an end to data migrations, and proactive monitoring of capacity, performance, and hardware. Plus, they need the latest in data protection, with consistent, rapid recovery at scale.
A Single Subscription for Storage Success
Evergreen//One™ delivers all of these benefits through an actual OPEX consumption-based subscription. Not to mention, Pure Storage® was named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Primary Storage Arrays for the seventh time. With Evergreen//One¹, you can achieve the IT operating model transformation your organization needs to stay agile and future-ready.
Read the Gartner Enterprise Storage as a Service Report and contact us to find out more about how Evergreen//One can meet the needs of your enterprise storage services transformation.
1) OPEX treatment is subject to customer’s auditor review
