#268 – Decoding the Pure Storage Data Management Vision

In this episode, Chris talks to Patrick Smith, EMEA CTO at Pure Storage. The topic of conversation is the vision Pure Storage has for the future of data management within the enterprise. Extending on the messaging of the “Cloud Operating Model”, Patrick explains how Pure Storage has built an ecosystem of hardware and software that delivers value to customers through automation, policy and commercial flexibility.

Patrick starts by outlining the issues he sees being experienced by customers every day. In many respects these reflect the same challenges over many decades, cost constraints, massive growth in capacity demands and restrictions on staff. Today that mix also includes AI and protecting data against ransomware.

Of course, delivering infrastructure in an efficient way is an evolving process that needs constant innovation. Today we see that through FlashArray, FlashBlade, Purity, Pure1 and Fusion. What could be in the future? Tune in (or attend) Pure Accelerate to find out! The event takes place in Las Vegas between 17th-19th June 2025.

Elapsed Time: 00:48:06

Timeline

• 00:00:00 – Intros
• 00:01:45 – What are the current storage and data problems for customers in the data centre?
• 00:03:13 – What has changed? Are we seeing the same problems as always?
• 00:04:51 – Pure is touting 300TB modules, an entire system 20 years ago
• 00:06:52 – Data is starting to change value over time (rather than declining)
• 00:08:15 – Automation and policy form a key part of Pure’s vision
• 00:12:10 – Budgets remain a challenge, especially with AI projects
• 00:13:44 – Quality of Service should enable data management in place
• 00:16:05 – Pure offers “Zero Move” tiering to implement in-place QoS
• 00:22:02 – Cost of complexity is a hidden cost in many businesses
• 00:24:44 – Public cloud was the greatest example of Shadow IT
• 00:27:04 – Pure Storage promotes a “Cloud Operating Model”
• 00:28:06 – Cloud means fleet management with policy and automation
• 00:32:40 – AI Copliot has helped customers to manage systems
• 00:36:33 – Pure builds simple hardware that can be exploited by software
• 00:37:37 – Software includes SaaS capabilities such as Pure1
• 00:39:07 – Many customers don’t want to manage their systems from SaaS
• 00:40:21 – The commercial model is the final piece in the Pure Strategy
• 00:44:30 – Subscriptions continues to lead revenue growth
• 00:46:44 – How should customers adapt to address the problems of the modern data centre?

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