Your Cloud Strategy Is Not Complete Without

Intelligent Storage

Research Brief

No one needs to be told about the explosive growth and increasing diversity of data and how it is putting greater pressure than ever on enterprise storage architectures. Ballooning storage capacity requirements are front and center, but that is hardly the only—or even the single most important—challenge facing IT professionals and storage administrators.

Instead, decision-makers need a modernized storage approach that ensures business stakeholders—employees, partners, customers and others—have a better handle on where their data is, what it embodies and how it delivers increased economic value to the organization.

In an era of such profound and ground-shifting trends as digital transformation, hybrid cloud and multicloud architecture, edge computing and the Internet of Things, organizations need a more flexible, agile and intelligent storage framework that reshapes priorities and decisions about storage hardware, software and services.

Enterprises also need their storage to become more “intelligent” in order to effectively harness their data across hybrid cloud environments, as well as in an increasingly multicloud setting. This move toward intelligent storage needs to be driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning, to remove the burden of managing infrastructure and provide the foundation for context-aware intelligence about how best to manage data.

In this complex, cloud-centric and “IT on demand” paradigm, storage must be delivered in a service-based model to provide more flexibility on storage consumption and investment. This allows enterprises to meet demanding scalability requirements, while providing the agility IT organizations need to simplify IT operations in a pay-per-use model.

Clearly, a new paradigm is needed, and that paradigm is intelligent storage.

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Enterprises need to ensure that data is identified, analyzed and accessed at the right place and the right time. But legacy storage approaches often inhibit—rather than drive—their ability to achieve that goal. This paper looks at a modernized approach that redefines storage as more than the place where data resides, especially in a hybrid cloud environment.

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Research highlights the stark reality of the cloud-first revolution. Consider that:

of enterprises are using some form of cloud computing.

of enterprises have adopted a multicloud strategy, with the average organization using nearly five cloud platforms.

of enterprises have embraced hybrid cloud, and

consider hybrid cloud to be a top priority.

Storage in the era of hybrid cloud environmentsNever before has IT architecture and data storage been this complex, diverse and dynamic. Since more and more data now resides in the cloud—and in multiple clouds— as well as in both traditional data centers and virtualization-fueled converged infrastructure, organizations need to redefine the very essence of data storage.

And, while it’s nearly impossible to accurately measure just how much data is stored in the various cloud environments, the bottom line is that the typical enterprise has more storage under management than ever. For instance, research conducted with 142 IT professionals in the TechTarget universe of active IT buyers indicates that, on average, more than 3.7 petabytes of data is being managed on and off premises.1

1 Custom research conducted for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, TechTarget, November 2018

Not surprisingly, the sheer volume of that data–as well as its diversity in format and location–makes it especially challenging to move and manage data between on-premises infrastructure and public cloud. The TechTarget research indicates that one-third of the survey respondents say their current storage infrastructure does not allow them to easily move and manage data from on premises to the cloud and back.

The diversity and complexity of today’s data storage requirements have resulted in other challenges, according to the research. For instance, 71% of respondents say their organizations are either highly or moderately concerned about cloud lock-in when it comes to cloud storage.

96% 81% 51% 45%

Not surprisingly, cost is becoming an increasingly prevalent cloud storage concern, especially when it comes to the costs of ensuring adequate data transfer rates and sufficient data egress. That is considered either a high or moderate concern for 82% of respondents.

It’s also important to point out that simply ensuring sufficient data storage capacity isn’t, in and of itself, a big challenge for IT decision-makers in an era of runaway data growth. For instance, 58% of survey respondents say their organization has not been impacted by inadequate storage capacity. However, follow-on questioning of those IT professionals sheds important light on why: They significantly overprovision the amount of storage they need for future growth.

How much do they typically overprovision? The respondents acknowledge overprovisioning storage by at least 37%, according to the research. Not only that, they acknowledge they experience substantial time delays in purchasing new on-premises storage capacity after a need for new storage is identified: 68% of respondents say the process typically takes three or more months after a need is identified.

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How concerned are you about cloud lock-in when it comes to cloud storage?

Highly concernedModerately concerned

Slightly concernedNot concerned at all

How concerned are you about cloud data transfer and data egress costs?

Highly concernedModerately concerned

Slightly concernedNot concerned at all

36%

35%

15%

14%

36%

46%

8%

10%

So, with all these and other data storage challenges, it’s worth noting survey respondents have very favorable feelings toward the possibility of an on-premises, predictably priced, consumption-based storage model for their organizations’ changing storage needs. In fact, nearly 80% of respondents agree they would prefer such a model.

Why intelligent storage?At the heart of these and other data storage trends is the notion that, more than ever before, organizations need their storage to do more in terms of creating economic value from all the data stored on premises and in any of their cloud environments. To achieve that vital goal, organizations are evolving toward an intelligent storage model, where data is located, surfaced, analyzed and reported in a way that allows for quick, actionable insights, regardless of the source or location of that data.

In a hybrid cloud setting, organizations now demand that their storage be able to automatically and intelligently:

• Understand workload requirements.

• Adapt and self-adjust in real time.

• Optimize data throughout its lifecycle.

• Migrate data to where it needs to be or to its optimal location for speed, efficiency and economy.

• Align costs with business usage.

• Identify and eliminate security risks.

In an ideal world, that would mean intelligent storage solutions would have to deliver several core capabilities. These are:

1. Artificial intelligence for advanced, automated analytics to remove the burden of managing infrastructure while also acting as the foundation for context-aware intelligence about the proper management of customer data across workloads and applications. By embracing automated management, on-premises storage infrastructure looks and behaves in a more cloud-like manner. Already, we are seeing the lines between on-premises and cloud infrastructure blurring to the point where they simply become physical locations and not separate management frameworks.

2. Cloud-centric architecture to reflect the reality of how and where most data is being created, stored and shared. In a built-for-cloud framework, intelligent storage delivers hyper-reliable availability that far surpasses earlier cloud storage models. Additionally, a cloud-centric architecture uses native cloud integration to remove extra hardware and software, making it simpler and more efficient to move data when connecting on-premises storage to multiple cloud providers.

3. Service-based experiences to increase flexibility in aligning consumption and investment requirements, ensuring sufficient scalability, performance and management simplification that matches economic resources. Already, many organizations are embracing a pay-as-you-go model for storage consumption in a public cloud environment. For instance, a service-based capacity planning function can help eliminate overprovisioning and reduce overall storage Capex and Opex, while also freeing up storage administrators and IT staff to focus on transformative business requirements driven by an intelligent, flexible and scalable storage framework. A service-based experience should be present across your entire hybrid cloud, whether it is deployed on premises or across multiple cloud providers.

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How long does it typically take to purchase new on-premises storage capacity after a need for new storage is identified?

0-3 months3-6 months

6-12 monthsMore than 12 months

37%

32%18%

13%

80% of respondents prefer consumption based storage model for on-premises

HPE delivers intelligent storage solutions that can helpHewlett Packard Enterprise, a decades-long leader in compute infrastructure, storage and services, helps enterprises confront and overcome the storage challenges associated with modern data with a broad and deep lineup of storage solutions. HPE provides intelligent storage solutions that are optimized for hybrid cloud environments where efficiency, flexibility, agility and risk reduction are paramount.

HPE has intelligent storage solutions built for hybrid cloud environments, including:• HPE InfoSight, an artificial intelligent

platform that predicts and prevents problems across the infrastructure stack and provides self-optimizing performance and resource usage efficiency.

• HPE Cloud Volumes, enabling efficient and secure movement of enterprise data between different clouds and on-premises flash storage. HPE Cloud Volumes is designed to improve reliability, reduce the potential for data loss, improve workload mobility, and eliminate vendor lock-in.

• HPE 3PAR, intelligent, memory-driven flash storage for the modern enterprise. It delivers predictable performance at scale, allowing IT to consolidate apps of today and tomorrow. 

• HPE Nimble Storage, an intelligent, AI-powered flash storage platform for the modern enterprise, delivering self-managed storage for unparalleled simplicity. It can reduce the high cost of storage Opex in the hybrid cloud by a massive 79%.

• HPE StoreOnce, a next-generation platform for hybrid IT data protection, providing cloud-optimized data protection that can scale from small remote offices to global enterprises and cloud service providers.

• HPE Apollo, a line of high-density servers combining compute, storage, networking, power and cooling for demanding workloads such as high-performance computing, big data analytics and object storage.

• HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity, which enables a new IT consumption model supporting customizable infrastructure solutions from HPE and affiliated partners. Preconfigured infrastructure packages are available to facilitate evaluation, ordering and deployment.

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These and other HPE storage tools and services enhance organizations’ ability to identify and leverage greater intelligence in the data stored both within on-premises solutions and in cloud storage environments. HPE helps infrastructure managers, business analysts and stakeholders access the right data at the precise moment it is required, regardless of its form, state or location.

From the on-premises data center and remote office installations to a multicloud universe, HPE intelligent storage continues to learn in an automated, context-aware manner to put data to work for employees and all stakeholders. At the same time, HPE intelligent storage solutions help organizations improve data protection, enhance data migration among different clouds, eliminate overprovisioning and deliver sufficient performance in enterprise environments.

ConclusionThere is no doubt that data is going to continue growing at eye-popping rates for years to come, making it harder for organizations to derive the proper economic value from their data because of challenges in locating, understanding and harnessing that data.

As organizations continue to embrace a hybrid cloud strategy, turning data from a challenge into a strategic asset will become even more difficult without an overhaul of legacy storage architecture.

That’s where intelligent storage comes into play and why partnering with a reliable, proven, innovative and visionary storage partner like HPE can make the difference between drowning in data and riding the wave to efficiency and success.

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For more information on HPE intelligent storage, please visit www.hpe.com/storage.

© Copyright 2019 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for Hewlett Packard Enterprise products and services are set forth inthe express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construedas constituting an additional warranty. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shall not be liable for technical or editorialerrors or omissions contained herein.

January 2019