Companies moving to software-defined storage because of compelling cost of ownership, increased flexibility and performance
Software-defined storage is rapidly becoming reality in the enterprise, as 95 percent of companies express an interest in the flexible storage approach, and nearly two-thirds – 63 percent – say their organization will realistically begin to adopt a software-defined storage approach in the next 12 months. That’s according to an international study of IT professionals commissioned and released by enterprise open source infrastructure solution provider SUSE.
Companies see business and technology advantages in software-defined storage, including:
- Lower cost of ownership– Eighty-one percent of respondents find the business case for software-defined storage to be compelling, with 72 percent increasingly evaluating their storage based on total cost of ownership over time. Seventy-three percent agree every business is a storage business, amplifying the connection between data storage and critical business issues.
- Higher levels of scalability– Ninety-six percent of companies like the business scalability of software-defined storage, and 95 percent find its time, performance, technical and cost scalability appealing.
- Increased performance– The main benefit expected from software-defined storage is enhanced system performance, according to more than half of respondents (52 percent). Other expected benefits include facilitation of modern web, mobile and big data applications/services, reduced support/maintenance costs, support for innovation/open business models, and ease of deployment.
- Keeping up with trending technology– More than half of respondents believe cloud adoption (54 percent) and big data analytics (50 percent) are significant trends that will accelerate the industry’s move to software-defined storage.
Interest in software-defined storage also extends to the underlying technology, as 75 percent of companies would consider an open source approach to their storage infrastructure. Forty-two percent are already considering open source to meet their storage needs.
“It’s no secret that data will continue to grow at an astounding pace, so it’s imperative storage for that data be both scalable and affordable,” said Gerald Pfeifer, SUSE Vice President of Products and Technology Programs. “This study confirms that businesses are actively seeking solutions to address this phenomenon, and software-defined storage meets the challenge. SUSE is leading the charge by helping customers manage this data with open source storage software that scales, and with a pricing model that is extremely attractive.”
