Seven Disruptive Trends in Storage Industry

This report was authored by Sameer Danave, senior director marketing, MSys Technologies LLC.

The constantly evolving storage industry shows no signs of abating, with stakeholders experimenting with new technologies and offering novel solutions to target markets.  

The world is already witnessing groundbreaking transformations in the storage industry, with every segment developing revolutionary advancements to deliver superior customer experiences. Technology integration is on the rise, and this, coupled with a fast-changing regulatory environment, has brought the storage segment on the cup of comprehensive shifts – both in customer expectations and industry orientations.

Well, if you wonder what these changes are, how they impact the industry, and what shifts they are likely to manifest, here’re the complete details: 

1) AI-based Data Transformations: By 2025, around 50% of cloud storage will use AI and ML algorithms to accurately collect, analyze, and evaluate data, resulting in significantly higher operating efficiency for data firms. New-age technologies’ role in boosting business growth is already well-known. With their use intensifying in the storage segment, firms can achieve higher efficiency in planning, implementing, and managing their operations. From demand estimation, inventory management, and production planning to optimizing supply chains, stakeholders across the value chain will likely benefit from AI-based data transformation.

2) Centralized Data Access: Data silos are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, with more organizations investing in the cloud-based centralized storage system that offers holistic benefits to all parties involved in the business ecosystem. From easy access, editing, and sharing capabilities, technology such as data warehouses, fabrics, lakes, and meshes are helping firms coordinate, communicate, and collaborate with partners and customers in a highly efficient and engaging manner, something that has never been achieved in the past. This close coordination and collaboration is also spurring the co-creation capabilities of firms wherein customers and partners play an equally important role in designing the firm’s value proposition. 

3) Game Changer CXL: At the heart of the Computer Express link (CXL) are the interconnect capabilities that allow companies to share cache, processors, and accelerators among the stakeholders in the business ecosystem. The technology significantly benefits data centers by enabling storage units to transcend physical limitations and holistically utilize the server architectures. One of the game-changing applications of CXL is managing workloads of AI and HPC, both of which demands high memory and processing capabilities. Global tech giants such as Samsung, Intel, and Micron have already started investing big in the CXL, and the deployment of the CXL-supported CPUs from Intel and AMD is likely to witness a big jump in 2H23. 

4) Multi-Cloud and Hybrid-Cloud Environment: The adoption of both multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud capabilities will gather a significant pace in 2023. While a multi-cloud strategy helps the distribution of workload over many platforms, hybrid-cloud enables the use of both public and private networks to offer enhanced speed, agility, safety, and flexibility to organizations. This coupled with the continuous improvement that cloud computing is witnessing with tech giants such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, will likely drive innovation in the category. 

5) Secure Cloud Services: While the rollout of 5G is widely hailed as a commendable step, high-speed data transfer has also raised concerns about the safety and security of cloud services. The security of cloud networks is emerging as the topmost proprietary of firms across the industrial sector. Sample the numbers: the global cloud security market was worth $20.54 billion in 2022 and is likely to reach $148.3 billion by 2032, growing with a CAGR of 22.5% between 2023 and 2032. While many factors will push the growth for global cloud security, prominent among these are intensifying threats of a data breach, high customer sensitivity, and tightening regulatory norms, among others. 

6) Reducing Data Load with SSD: Firms increasingly employ tools to compress, de-dupe, and eliminate redundant data, freeing up the vital storage space on their SSDs. This is significant for organizations that need large-scale data space to boost performance, operating efficiency, and customer service. Using SSD data reduction, firms can achieve incredible performance, faster boot times, and higher reliability, owing to agile and dynamic data storage infrastructure. 

7) Immutable Backups: The adoption of immutable backups is gaining traction owing to its high efficiency against malware, ransomware, and other hacking and phishing attempts. The use of versioning, offsite replication, access controls, and WORM storage is rising, indicating these technologies’ high favor in the storage industry. Further, big tech giants like Microsoft, AWS, Intel, etc., are creating durable functions and testing their DR services to guarantee data availability even after natural calamities and disasters. 

As we move into the thick of 2H23, the storage industry will continue to experience new demand patterns that are aligned with aforesaid trends. The good thing is that storage companies are embracing the change, continuously innovating with new technologies, and adapting their work culture to meet the fast-changing requirements on both customer and regulatory fronts. This positive stance towards the change and the constant urge to deliver superior services will likely ensure that the storage segment will continue to evolve in the rest of 2023.