In this episode, Chris talks to Sharad Kumar, Field CTO at Qlik about the value of good-quality data when developing AI solutions. Much of the current discussion around AI and large-language models (LLMs) is focused on the infrastructure and the significant expense needed to build and train generative AI. However, as the revelation of DeepSeek shows, the industry trend will see models commoditise and become cheaper to train and run.

If infrastructure and software become quickly affordable, what is the differentiator for businesses? The answer is clearly their data. Data has value to an enterprise, but only if it is in an acceptable format. That means being of high quality and in terms of how Qlik operates, a trusted resource.

During the conversation, Sharad explains the six metrics of the Talend Trust Score, a methodology that measures the value of data based on Diversity, Timeliness, Accuracy, Security, Discoverability and Consumability. He explains how the Trust Score is calculated, but more importantly, how businesses can build a framework to continually improve the quality and value of their data resources.

More information on Qlik can be found on the company website – here. Sharad mentions the user conference taking place in May, details of which can be found here. Finally, Sharad references the Qlik LinkedIn page, which can be found here.

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In this episode, Chris discusses the options available to storage system vendors when building modern storage appliances, with Bill Basinas, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Infinidat. The conversation derives from an observation on architectural choices, following the move to AMD processors from Intel for the latest G4 systems built by Infinidat. AMD offers a greater core count per processor compared to Intel, allowing Infinidat to move to single socket designs, while gaining improvements from PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory.

Ultimately, this discussion highlights how modern storage system design can take standardised components and build flexible architectures, implementing most features in software. For Infinidat, that could mean expanding its range of solutions for smaller enterprise requirements, or building out products specifically for Edge use cases.

Although Bill did not reveal any future plans, the implication is clear – watch this space for future evolution of the InfiniBox architecture to a wider and more varied set of hardwaree configurations.

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In this episode, Chris discusses the enduring benefits of centralised storage, particularly with reference to storage virtualisation, with Dan Kogan, VP of Enterprise Growth and Solutions and Cody Hosterman, Senior Director of Product Management, both from Pure Storage.

Centralised or shared storage has been around for over 30 years, providing efficiencies in infrastructure and operational management. In the virtualisation context, centralisation provides the ability to abstract workloads from the hypervisor and add flexibility and data management features to a centrally managed platform. Vendors, such as Pure Storage, have invested resources in making centralised storage efficient, while also providing significant security benefits that couldn’t be achieved with an HCI model.

Although this discussion was intended to focus on centralisation, the ultimate conclusion of the conversation is to realise that centralised storage is a precursor to storage-as-a-service. This is where the industry is headed, whether using on-premises or public cloud infrastructure.

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In this episode, Chris is in conversation with Jeb Horton, SVP Global Services at Hitachi Vantara, discussing the capabilities of Hitachi Vantara’s Global Services offerings, which deliver infrastructure management and infrastructure as a service to its customers.

In addition to EverFlex, Hitachi Vantara has a long history of managed services capabilities that span more than just outsourced storage. As Jeb explains, the company also manages storage infrastructure from other vendors, in addition to non-storage systems.

The interesting aspect of this discussion is the complex nature of the interaction between customers and Hitachi. Solutions offerings aren’t merely “transactional”, but have a human aspect and are tailored to meeting the specific goals of the customer. This conversation explores some of the nuances of working with customers to transfer the burden of infrastructure management to Hitachi, enabling businesses to focus on more strategic opportunities.

To learn more about Hitachi Vantara check out the Infrastructure as a Service section on the Hitachi website – https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/services/infrastructure-as-a-service.

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In this recording, Chris talks to Subbiah Sundaram, SVP of Products at HYCU, Inc. about the 2024 edition of the HYCU State of SaaS Data Resilience Report. The report surveys customers to understand the gaps in perceived and actual data protection for SaaS platforms and the results are quite surprising. Subbiah walks through the top four findings, covering the understanding of the pervasive nature of SaaS in modern business, perceptions of data protection and the unexpected risks created by SaaS platforms.

HYCU provides a robust and comprehensive approach to SaaS data protection, called R-Graph, part of R-Cloud. We’ve covered these products in previous podcasts, shown in the related content section below. We recommend downloading the report, which can be found here – The State of SaaS Data Resilience in 2024. Details on R-Graph can be found here – R-Graph.

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In this podcast episode, Chris is in conversation with Jeffries Briginshaw (Head of EMEA Government Relations at NetApp) and Adam Gale (CTO for AI & Cyber Security, NetApp) discussing the EU AI Act and the regulation of artificial intelligence across the world. The EU AI Act is an early introduction into the regulation of the use of AI by businesses within their engagements and interactions with customers. As explained in this conversation, there are classifications of AI types and within that, restrictions on what businesses are permitted to implement based on those categorisations. Some AI usage will be banned, while others will require human intervention and close monitoring.

How should your business engage with AI and ensure compliance with the act? Listen to the discussion for more details. As mentioned in the recording, for details on what NetApp can offer, point your favourite browser to https://www.netapp.com/artificial-intelligence/ to learn more.

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In this podcast episode, Chris discusses the platform update announcements from Pure Accelerate 2024 with Prakash Darji, VP and GM of the Digital Experience BU at Pure Storage. The new features focus on usability and operational enhancements, including AI-based features and support for AI workloads. Highlighted in this discussion are:

As the list shows, there are lots of new updates to make the management and operation of a Pure Storage fleet more efficient and easy. As Prakash explains the reasoning behind the features, it is clear that AI is being used to deliver simplicity, while the platform will provide support for customers wanting to build AI-focused workloads.

To learn more, follow the news from Pure Accelerate 2024 here (link). Prakash mentions two blog posts, which can be found here – Ransomware is a Darwinian Problem That Will Never Be Solved and Editorial: Why Centralised Storage Refuses to Go Away.

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In this podcast episode, Chris catches up with Dan McConnell, Senior VP for Product Management at Hitachi Vantara. The company recently announced VSP One Block, a new mid-range appliance for block storage. This follows on from two product announcements in April, which we covered in this Research Note, and the restructuring of Hitachi Vantara announced towards the end of last year (see this Research Note).

Dan discusses VSP One Block, an appliance that targets mid-range storage requirements. He also covers VSP One SDS, a software-defined solution which runs in AWS and on-premises. The third product announcement covers file, with VSP One File, the latest iteration of the technology that came from the BlueArc acquisition over a decade ago.

You can find out more about the Block Storage Appliance here (link and here). Details on the VSP One SDS announcement can be found here (link), which includes details on VSP One File.

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In this episode, Chris discusses the topic of building sustainable storage solutions with Shawn Rosemarin, Global VP of Customer Engineering at Pure Storage. AI and specifically Generative AI (GenAI) has become a hot topic over the past 12 months. Businesses are looking at projects to use AI internally for productivity gains, but also to drive additional business.

However, AI is still relatively expensive and requires huge volumes of training data. Training is an ongoing process that must react to changes in the data landscape, such as rights and permissions, and government regulation. With AI hardware being so expensive, it’s important to get the storage piece right, and that means having a scalable and cost effective solution. Shawn details how Pure Storage has focused on two aspects. First, the hardware, where DFMs (direct flash modules) have reached 75TB, with commitments to deliver 150TB and 300TB drives in the next few years. Second, the software management capability delivered through Purity, the operating system of Pure Storage hardware.

It’s clear that building cost and power-efficient flash devices will be a challenge for the wider industry, where the focus lies with consumer devices. Pure Storage believes it is well positioned to help customers and potentially hyper-scalers in their goals to deliver efficient storage for AI.

As Shawn highlights, this topic and more will be discussed at Pure Accelerate, to be held in Las Vegas from 18-21 June 2024. Check out the website where you can learn more.

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In this episode, Chris talks to Infinidat CMO, Eric Herzog. Infinidat has announced one of the biggest upgrades in eight years, with the release of InfiniBox and InfiniBox SSA G4, the fourth generation of enterprise-class storage. Accompanying the new hardware is an upgrade to InfuzeOS, the Infinidat storage operating system, and a new feature for InfiniSafe – Automated Cyber Protection, or ACP.

Infinidat has upgraded both the InfiniBox and InfiniBox SSA platforms with a generation 4 release that includes a switch to AMD processors. Using the EPYC 9554P enables Infinidat to use a single-socket design, while gaining from the move to DDR5 system memory and PCIe 5.0 I/O. The savings to the customer are space, power and cooling. The AMD move also enables Infinidat to release new hardware configurations, including a 14U rack-mount solution for edge data centres, rather than just the custom rack used to ship existing products.

InfuzeOS gains an upgrade to version 8, with support for InfuzeOS in the public cloud on Microsoft Azure (AWS was announced last year). The new hardware and software improvements result in a 2x performance gain for customers. One final announcement covers InfiniSafe and the ability to automate snapshots through the integration of cyber-detection technology with InfiniBox and InfiniBox SSA. Customers can now automate the creation of immutable snapshots if their SIEM or SOAR platform detects malicious activity. This capability reduces the size of the threat window and the potential volume of data needing recovery, should a breach occur.

There’s a lot more detail in the podcast, so go ahead and listen! For more information on any of the announcements in this podcast episode, visit https://www.infinidat.com/.

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