Top 8 Storage Trends Revolutionizing Storage Industry

By 2023, the total volume of data stored in data centers worldwide will exceed 200ZB, more than 6x higher than the current level.

This dramatic rise is due to the growth of data generation from various sources, such as social media, IoT devices, autonomous vehicles, and virtual/augmented reality. This article will follow up on Annual 2023 Storage Datacenter Trends prediction of MSys Technologies LLC and see how they have performed in 1Q23.

1. Surge in Data Security Investments Across Several Sectors

The company predicted a surge in data protection and security investments as organizations acknowledge the increasing importance of safeguarding valuable information assets. Notably, several sectors experienced exponential growth in data security investments.

• Organizations Strengthening Cybersecurity Capabilities: With the acquisition of Morphus, Accenture added new capabilities to its cybersecurity portfolio, including identity and access management, data security, and cyber defense.
• The Threat Intelligence Platform Market is predicted to Reach $14.6 Billion at a 15.70% CAGR by 2030 due to an increase in the adoption of cloud-based services and the IoT devices. As more organizations move their data and applications to the cloud, the investments are expected to increase for advanced threat intelligence solutions to mitigate.
• Investment in Data Security for a Safe Extended Reality Experience (XR): Significant investment is driven by XR as companies work to create a safe and secure virtual world for their users. XR will likely bring new security risks not present in the physical world, such as virtual digital currency, virtual real estate, and virtual goods, that will become targets for cybercriminals.

2. Enhancing IT Efficiency and Innovation with AIOps and RPA Technologies

AIO/s integration with ITSM tools is providing organizations more visibility and control over IT operations. Reduced downtime, improved decision-making, and enhanced collaboration is driving AIO/s adoption within organizations.

Here are a few statistics that aid the prediction:

• HPE picks up OpsRamp to sprinkle some AIO/s on Greenlake multi-cloud. OpsRamp’s SaaS-based platform will equip organizations with real-time information to manage their entire hybrid IT stack, and predictive insights and proactive automation are intended to result in speedier resolution of issues.
• Telecom Egypt has decided to leverage IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIO/s, which will be deployed on RedHat OpenShift. Additionally, IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions will be implemented to get a comprehensive view of their entire IT environment.

3. Rising Demand for Secure Cloud Solutions

The cloud security market will reach $148.3 billion by 2032, Revenue to Index 22.5% CAGR over the next 10 years (between 2023 and 2032). With the rise of 5G and higher Internet speeds becoming the norm in 2023, users have even faster access to their data stored on the cloud. Maintaining security is the ultimate priority and has shifted the focus due to the rise of technology and online attacks.

Outlook for Secure Cloud Solutions: Increasing regulatory requirements such as GDPR have pushed organizations towards secure cloud solutions over traditional on-premises systems as a way of meeting compliance demands while maintaining low operational costs.

Prominent public cloud providers like AWS, Google, and Azure continue to expand, and ISVs are investing heavily to provide secure data services in the public cloud.

4. Increasing Demand for Kubernetes-Based Solutions in Cloud-Native Market

Due to advantages including a short configuration cycle, fine-grained resource control, and the ability to scale up and down programs in response to user or consumer demand, the market for software containers is expanding rapidly.

• Oracle added serverless Kubernetes and a financially backed SLA to its OKE-managed service. Due to its efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the platform automatically scales up or down based on workload demand and will create a massive impact in container adoption.
• Goldman Sachs raised its stake in a leading enterprise Kubernetes data services provider to capitalize on the growing demand for cloud-native technologies and services. As more companies adopt cloud-native technologies and migrate their workloads to the cloud, there is an increasing need for Kubernetes-based solutions.

5. Regulations and Policies Driving Green Data Center Adoption

Growing energy consumption by data centers is expected to propel the growth of the Green Data Center (GDC) market. The GDC market grew from $57.58 billion in 2022 to $68.37 billion in 2023 at a CAGR (CAGR) of 18.7%. Due to the rising digitalisation and regulation, we predict organizations to ramp up their GDC initiatives even more:

• HPE GreenLake unveiled a new green data center that utilizes HPE’s own technologies, such as its HPE Synergy composable infrastructure and HPE OneView management software, to provide customers with a flexible and scalable cloud platform. This will help customers reduce their environmental impact while improving their operational efficiency and reducing costs.
• The integration of ETAP’s technology with Schneider’s cloud-based technology platform paves the way for developing green data centers, resilient power grids, decarbonized transport, and energy generation. The resulting platform will enable more efficient and sustainable management of energy resources, promoting environmentally friendly practices and reducing carbon footprints.

6. Immutable Backups – Paying a Ransom is Off the Table for 2023

A trend on the rise in 2023 is using blockchain technology for immutable backup purposes. Many companies are already implementing blockchain for record-keeping and document storage, but it can also be used to store large amounts of sensitive data securely and immutably.

• Azure launched its durable functions feature, allowing customers to create “immutable” workflows using serverless computing resources.
• AWS increased its range of DR services that utilize immutable backups to ensure BC during natural disasters or other catastrophic incidents.
• Distributed Immutable Storage is in high demand due to its decentralized architecture, ensuring data integrity and availability during network failures or cyberattacks, and the immutability feature critical for secure applications like financial transactions.

7. All-Flash Storage Adoption Increasing for Superior Performance and Scalability

The price-per-bit for NAND flash is declining much faster than nearline HDDs. This, combined with the power, space, and cooling savings, higher performance, and better flash reliability, makes HDDs the less cost-effective option.

• Pure has announced an all-flash unstructured storage product called FlashBlade//E. With Pure’s flash-optimized storage dipping below $0.20/GB, replacing HDDs with solid-state flash technology is economically viable.
• Where flash is still behind disk is cost, and the distance between the disk/flash crossover point is getting shorter and shorter. The dream of an all-flash data center will soon become accessible for most organizations.

8. New Infrastructure to Support the ChatGPT Era

With increasingly dense infrastructure built in a small space, data centers are facing the challenge of efficient dissipation of the heat produced. The use of AI is proving a more cost-effective storage infrastructure.

• AI has been making substantial strides in storage for data centers. Companies such as IBM, Microsoft, and Dell EMC are investing heavily in AI-driven technologies to make data center storage more intelligent and efficient. These investments include predictive analytics that anticipates needs before they arise, allowing companies to streamline their storage operations and reduce costs.
• AI-as-a-Service: Jensen Huang, founder, and CEO, NVIDIA, said: “We are partnering with major service – cloud service providers to offer NVIDIA AI cloud services, offered directly by NVIDIA and through our network of go-to-market partners, and hosted within the world’s largest clouds. Technology breakthroughs have brought AI to an inflection point. Generative AI’s versatility and capability have triggered a sense of urgency in enterprises worldwide to develop and deploy AI strategies.“

The storage industry is constantly evolving to keep up with the insatiable demand for data. And the company predicts that the above predictions will continue to see a rise in demand in 2023.