VAST Data continues to expand its reach through partnerships

There has never been a better time for data management companies. Digital transformation efforts, the rise of AI put into hyperdrive by ChatGPT, and the massive expansion of edge computing have made data and data transformation and analytics essential to modern business. To that end, new AI, analytics, and other data-related companies seem to be popping up every day to ride this wave. And all these workloads require high-performance storage. More specifically, there’s certainly a lot of VC money pouring into this part of the tech industry.

So how do you tell the winners from the losers in a technology market that seems like the year 2000 is back again? I can see that,’ and he was right, though he admits it hurts for this Red Sox fan. And if you look closely at companies like VAST Data, it looks like this is a company built for long-term success.

In a market filled with both established companies and exciting startups, why choose VAST Data? This article shares my thoughts on it.

VAST has a killer product

The first rule of establishing long-term success is to truly solve the challenges your customers face and execute them convincingly. What are the challenges in enterprise storage? Well, there are a few. The first is, in a nutshell, the silo. Long-established companies deploy multiple storage environments to serve different functions. For example, delay requirements for AI are different from departmental database requirements, not to mention cost sensitivity. Deploying multiple storage environments to support these different (and sometimes competing) requirements requires different storage administrators and different protocols (such as AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, etc.) across different cloud services (such as means different storage architectures with NFS, SMB, etc.).

Another challenge is complexity. It only takes a little imagination to understand the complexity introduced to the enterprise when deploying and maintaining file, block and object stores. This is regardless of whether we are talking about resiliency or simply using the data in these stores. Life is hard for administrators, developers, and business users.

But complexity doesn’t just mean different types of storage for different workloads. There are also regional issues. Data is generated, stored and used everywhere: data center, edge, far edge, industrial edge and cloud. Maintaining this distributed storage environment not only seems difficult, it seems impossible.

Finally, the cost of maintaining these various data stores can be prohibitive. If you haven’t reached that stage yet, you need to reassess your IT spending. This is due to all the challenges outlined above.

But what if you could eliminate silos and simplify your storage architecture with a universal platform that considered performance, scale, complexity and existing silos? Isn’t it? The answer is yes. VAST Data offers just such a solution.

Regardless of data type, data location, or functionality, VAST has a single platform to manage your enterprise needs. And it does this by designing for openness, scalability, and cost.

Therefore, when considering the first rule of long-term success, a killer product, VAST Data scores the check mark.

VAST meets many needs

Here are some things I like about VAST’s design: The company’s products are at the foundational level of an inflection point for multiple technologies that all rely on data, including analytics, AI, and generative AI. Similarly, any database or data store type (SQL, graph, key-value, document, columnar, etc.) requires a performant back-end storage tier. And finally, regardless of data locality, the underlying high-performance underlying storage platform determines the performance of your workload.

We have seen many companies come and go, trying to serve very specific needs of the market. In fact, I have worked as an employee for several of these companies. Its product lifespan is often limited by the product’s narrow focus or scope, which means that the innovation may only work at one point in the market’s trajectory. means In contrast, the VAST data platform is designed to be universal in terms of features it supports now and in the long term.

VAST wins in the most competitive market segment

If you want to know the potential of a company, look at the diversity of its customer base, both in terms of segmentation and vertical industries. A diverse customer base doesn’t guarantee success, but a limited customer base certainly limits your growth potential.

VAST has done an excellent job of winning in performance-critical markets across different types of customers.

As you can see from this sample of customers, VAST is successful across segments with very different purchasing criteria. Whether your customers are focused on performance, scale, or TCO, VAST seems to have the answer. And this is happening in everything from education to life sciences to content management. Again, this universal appeal says a lot about VAST’s long-term prospects.

Partnership Validates VAST Solution and Drives TAM Expansion

Finally, when considering whether a company has long-term technology and attractiveness, look to market validation. In the case of VAST, two technology partnerships that VAST has formed can be noted.

In April, HPE announced a partnership with VAST for file storage. In this partnership, VAST will be his GreenLake brains (i.e. software) for file storage solutions (you can read my article on this here). And just a few weeks ago, Nvidia certified his VAST as his first NAS solution for DGX SuperPOD (more info here).

These partnerships are essential for several reasons. First, we examine the architecture and technology of VAST. When an innovator chooses you as the cornerstone of their solution, it’s a big deal.

Second, these partnerships will expand VAST’s access to new markets. While the company is already doing quite well in the high-end storage market, these partnerships should expand VAST’s Total Addressable Market (TAM). I believe that the HPE partnership will have an immediate impact on his VAST’s “downstream” appeal, while the Nvidia certification will increase his VAST’s visibility in higher-end market segments.

lastly

The data management and storage market is full of strong players and attractive solutions. I’ve been in the technology space for a long time as an IT executive, consultant, marketer, and now analyst, but I’ve never seen so much growth and dynamism. There is no doubt that in today’s market there is a sharp divide between winners and losers. Winners will include new entrants as well as incumbent technology companies that have served the needs of the market. And the losers will include established companies as well as new entrants who have failed to generate enough broad appeal.

From the viewpoint of “seeing and observing”, VAST is included in the winner’s column. Are you still early in the game? Yes, but all the telltale signs are present.