In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review during the 18th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, Andrew Douglas, Senior Director, and Global Telco Lead at Pure Storage, discussed the company’s innovative solutions and how it empowers its customers to scale their data storage platforms.
How is Pure Storage empowering enterprise customers in the MENA region to adopt advanced AI and cloud technologies?
Pure Storage is an organization that has been going for 15 years. Our technology is based on direct all-flash technology and the concept of longevity through the Evergreen program. It provides a long-term and efficient investment in storage technology, moving away from the commodity style of storage hardware present in legacy telco networks. It also offers a denser footprint and an energy-efficient approach to managing data, along with a cloud-like experience.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is all about data. Traditionally storage has been seen as a commodity product, investments have been made that way. Within AI data is the most important commodity. Success in this space requires a strong data pipeline and understanding of where data resides. You need to adapt data to different types of use cases. Traditionally, this adaptation has occurred within networks and automation. Pure Storage brings everything together, providing the right platform for speed, optimization, and fast processing, ultimately delivering storage and data growth platforms.
How is Pure Storage positioning itself in the competitive data storage landscape in terms of innovation and customer value?
Pure Storage is unique as we develop our own software and hardware. Our mission, which has remained unchanged since the company started 15 years ago, is to replace traditional disk-based storage, which takes up large amounts of power and capacity in data centers globally. Pure Storage’s all-flash media, or ‘direct-to-flash management,’ drives outcomes that achieve higher footprint densification versus legacy systems.
There is a significant reduction in the floor space and power draw. We look at our technology in terms of longevity, guaranteeing that we are not in the business of throwing infrastructure away, but rather, providing upgrades in place, non-disruptively. In fact 97% of our arrays are still in use 10 years after installation - proving our longevity.
We have already achieved a high-densification ratio as part of our direct-to-flash management, releasing 150 TB this year, with 300TB coming. We aim to deliver energy-efficient, high-volume, high-bandwidth, and scalable solutions.
How does Pure Storage’s solutions address the challenges of managing data growth effectively and differently?
Pure Storage is the only vendor offering solutions based on own Direct Flash Modules, all-Flash technology designed from the ground up as flash, enabling us to scale very high in terms of storage. Our singular, DFM modules cater to 150 TB, which is unique in the market. Many workloads, including AI require flexibility and performance, our platforms are all built to provide a dense, performance-rich, and very low energy utilization. This supports telcos’ transformation as they navigate the landscape.
