IBM advances Software Defined Storage leadership with new IBM Spectrum Storage

I have been fortunate in my career to have been involved in a number of significant technology transformations that have impacted both IBM and the clients we serve.  I was on the team that worked with Sun Microsystems and across IBM to establish Java as a “write once, run anywhere” application platform; on the team that worked with Microsoft to launch the early Web Services standards and Service Oriented Architecture; and on the IBM team that launched the Eclipse open source community and led the transformation to an open application development environment.  It is exciting to be part of new generation of information technology that enables IBM clients around the world to better serve their customers, patients, and citizens.

My good fortune continues as I am now part of the IBM team leading a transformation to Software Defined Storage as we launch IBM Spectrum Storage.

We live in a world that is increasingly data driven.  The growth of Mobile and Social apps used by people all around the world; growth of meters, sensors and cameras on practically everything capturing data to be analyzed in near real time; and growth of laws and regulations requiring long term data retention, are all factors driving an explosive growth of stored data.  Traditional storage solutions were designed for a different set of applications and usage patterns.   They are too rigid and inefficient to address today’s needs cost effectively.

A more agile storage environment is required to cost effectively handle a broad scope of data whose business value may change over short periods of time.  The insatiable “need for speed” must be answered with breakthroughs that do much better than throwing more inefficient systems at the problem.  That is why there is growing market buzz about the difference Software Defined Storage can make.

IBM Spectrum Storage is a comprehensive set of storage intelligence that is delivered with unmatched flexibility – as software, as Cloud services or pre-integrated in systems and appliances.  These capabilities can be used to optimize storage of files, objects and data on storage-rich-servers and 100s of storage systems from IBM and other companies.  And can be used on premises, in the cloud, and across hybrid cloud environments to optimize both performance and cost.

While IBM Spectrum Storage is new and includes a number of new innovations such as cloud based storage analytics; it is also based on a proven set of technologies that include more than 700 IBM patented innovations used by thousands of clients around the world.  This combination of innovation and proven reliability is a compelling value for solutions that manage and protect the data that are among an organization’s most valuable assets.

Now that we are launched, and I am back on the blogging bandwagon, I look forward to sharing stories about how clients are redefining data economics with IBM Spectrum Storage.