Learn more about Hitachi Content Platform Anywhere by visiting http://www.hds.com/products/file-and-content/hitachi-content-platform-anywhere.html and more information on the Hitachi Content Platform is at http://www.hds.com/products/file-and-content/content-platform

1. IDC 1491
I D C V E N D O R S P O T L I G H T
Storage Trends: Delivering Management and
Intelligence Through Cloud Services
April 2013
Adapted from IDC's Worldwide Storage and Big Data Taxonomy, 2013 by Ashish Nadkarni and Laura DuBois,
IDC #239273 and Shared Nothing Architectures — A Blueprint for Software-Based Scale-Out Solutions
by Ashish Nadkarni, IDC #239526
Sponsored by Hitachi Data Systems
IDC expects storage to continue to be a hot market in 2013. Major trends such as Big Data and
cloud will continue to spur innovation. With the economy looking a bit better, many businesses may
increase their spending; in particular, companies will turn increasingly to the public cloud to manage
the growth of unstructured data as well as control costs.
This Vendor Spotlight explores the trends in cloud-based storage services and discusses the role that
Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) plays in this important market.
Introduction
File-based storage (FBS) and object-based storage (OBS) solutions continue to see increased
demand from all corners of the storage market today. This demand spans multiple industries and
sectors with newer use cases and delivery models and is bringing about a convergence between
these two sets of technologies.
Existing use cases such as information digitization, data retention policies, and globally dispersed
information sharing (to name a few) — all aimed at controlling the insatiable appetites for data
consumption — are increasingly moving to file- and object-based storage (FOBS). Pressures created
by four fundamental IT trends — cloud, mobility, social business, and Big Data — are expected to
create additional (and nearly unprecedented) demand for storage supporting unstructured data.
Given the emergence of newer use cases for file- and object-based storage — such as server and
desktop virtualization, machine-generated content repositories, and streaming data — FOBS
solutions that were once meant only for unstructured data are being used for semistructured and
structured data. In addition, newer delivery models such as public or private cloud–based storage are
increasingly relying on object-based storage as the platform, with data accessed via newer interfaces
such as HTTP/REST or via traditional file-based interfaces such as Network File System (NFS) and
Common Internet File System (CIFS).
Technologically, file-based and object-based storage solutions are converging. File-based storage
solutions are increasingly becoming object aware with the adoption of metadata-based parallel,
clustered, or distributed file systems and newer object-based data interfaces. Object-based solutions
on the other hand are becoming increasingly file friendly with the adoption of file-based interfaces.
The ongoing expansion of business-critical information, diverse data sets, divisive data sources, and
rich content within extended enterprises continues to change the storage dynamic in a wide range of
industries and organizations. Organizing this expanding universe of file- and object-based information
as efficiently as possible and at the same time extracting value from it are becoming core business
mandates.

2. ©2013 IDC2
A muted revolution is occurring in IT environments everywhere:
 Expansive data. Businesses are storing more data in their environments. Much of it is data that
they analyze or plan to analyze in order to gain a competitive edge. The expanding data sets
include not only structured data but also semistructured data (generated by machines) and
unstructured data (generated by humans). Unlike archival data, which is basically cold data,
these data sets need to be routinely analyzed and therefore need to have proximity to a compute
layer.
 Newer applications, use cases, and delivery models. Along with server and desktop
virtualization of mission-critical applications, newer applications spanning Big Data, social, and
mobile use cases are fast entering mainstream IT. Newer cloud-based infrastructure-as-a-service
offerings are being adopted across a broad range of industries to supplant their on-premises
infrastructure.
 Advancements and standardization in hardware speeds and feeds. Gone are the days of
slower and proprietary hardware and interconnects (which allowed for healthy fan-out ratios in
most shared storage infrastructures). Newer hardware platforms are made of faster CPUs,
memory, and disks and can be connected via ultrahigh-speed networks. The Internet has
become fast too, allowing businesses to distribute their workforce geographically.
These developments are pushing the envelope on shared storage networks when it comes to certain
types of use cases such as cloud storage, content repositories, geodispersed data access, and
analytics for semistructured and unstructured data types.
Benefits
For many organizations, unstructured data — audio, video, digital images, social media, and so forth
— continues to grow unabated. At the same time, IT departments are facing budget and resource
constraints, limiting the ability of storage administrators to effectively manage data growth.
Complex storage environments make it difficult for organizations to identify and access data, which
could hinder their ability to leverage the data for analytics or to create business intelligence. Moving
to the cloud can introduce availability and security risks, particularly for organizations that have
regulatory requirements. In these environments, organizations need to leverage existing storage
infrastructures and services to turn business-critical data into valuable intelligence.
Private, public, and hybrid cloud models can enable organizations to choose the right option for all
their data and content while allowing them to manage, find, and access the data they need when they
need it to support the business. As content, data, and analytics requirements grow, various cloud
services enable organizations to scale their solutions and to more effectively transform their data into
intelligence.
Additional benefits of cloud services include the following:
 With no infrastructure to purchase up front, organizations can get capex and opex spending
under control.
 The cloud services ecosystem includes enterprise-tested platforms and technologies that deliver
high levels of reliability and security.
 A variety of sophisticated cloud storage services that organizations need to manage their
complex data storage and management requirements are available, freeing up resources to focus
more on the business.

3. ©2013 IDC 3
Market Trends
Many suppliers are designing solutions that move the computing and data fabrics closer to each other
in a converged infrastructure model. Suppliers with existing solutions are trying to make their
solutions more versatile and appealing to a diverse set of workloads. They aim to create blueprints to
enable their customers to take advantage of these solutions to create private cloud environments,
content repositories, and data-as-a-service delivery platforms. In addition, storage vendors should
help their clients make the transition from a support perspective as they augment shared nothing
architectures in their environments.
One of the key differentiators between true object platforms and scale-out file-based solutions with
object interfaces is how they manage data dispersal. The more robust the object platform in terms of
its dispersal capabilities, the better suited it is for cloud and cloud-like deployments in which data may
be ingested and/or analyzed concurrently across multiple locations globally.
Like it or not, all storage vendors are becoming cloud vendors (at least for sync-n-share services)
and, more importantly, application providers. From a buyer perspective, organizations have to look at
their suppliers for another set of services — in addition to the datacenter-centric services that they
are used to. IT departments dealing with end users will now have to deal with datacenter storage
solutions. The proverbial BlackBerry admin will be calling storage vendors asking for support for a
user's tablet app.
A key characteristic of the FOBS market that continues to differentiate it from the traditional block-
based storage market is that the potential use cases are diverse enough to require specialized
solutions. This is particularly true within the scale-out FOBS market where specialized solutions are
rampant. To cater to diverse workloads and applications, often specific to certain industries, suppliers
frequently offer specialized scale-out solutions with varying degrees of file and object awareness.
Considering Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems approach to the cloud is to allow customers to choose from a variety of
cloud delivery and purchase models, all from a single vendor. All of the solutions are built on an
object-based storage model with sophisticated metadata capabilities delivered through Hitachi
Content Platform (HCP).
HDS facilitates transitions to the cloud by:
 Enabling customers to implement their own private clouds. These customers choose to build
their own cloud using Hitachi Data Systems proven platforms and technologies. Hitachi Data
Systems Global Services provides customers with access to a collection of file tiering, file
serving, and archiving solutions already built and ready to use.
 Delivering hosted private, public, and hybrid cloud solutions. Customers can choose from two
options:
Hitachi Cloud Services is an enterprise-level, public and enterprise-to-cloud offering —
owned and managed by HDS — that provides a set of sophisticated cloud storage
services as well as REST API support that enables interoperability with enterprise
applications and other cloud environments. This offering is available in the United States
today and will be available in additional geographies in the near future.
Customers choosing a private cloud but wishing not to incur additional capex expenses
may take advantage of Hitachi Data Systems Managed Service Solutions. In this case,
HDS remotely hosts a private cloud located on-premises at the customer's site.

4. ©2013 IDC4
 Partnering to expand options for customers in different areas, including vertical and ISV
applications, portal technology, and cloud delivery experience and expertise. Two partner
programs are in place today:
Hitachi Cloud Service Connection. This program enables HDS channel partners to
deliver a comprehensive set of "infrastructure as a service" and "platform as a service"
options from an extensive service catalog. Designed for small and medium-sized end-user
organizations, this program is available in Asia/Pacific countries today and will be
available in Europe and other geographies in the near future.
Hitachi Cloud Service Provider Program. In this program, HDS works with a cloud
service provider to deliver value-added services to customers. The partner maintains the
hosting environment and provides self-service capabilities for service provisioning,
subscription management, and billing. Organizations can work directly with HDS or with
the cloud service provider to acquire and use services, paying for only what they use.
HDS will continue to enhance both the functionality and the "cloud enablement" of its platforms to
make its cloud solutions even more scalable, reliable, and secure. It will also expand its partner
activities to provide more of its cloud options through a wider variety of channels.
Doing cloud right requires more than just quality platforms and software. Many customers need
consultative services and support to assess their needs, data management requirements, and
existing IT environment so they can make the right decisions and acquire the skills and processes
they need to follow through. Hitachi Data Systems Global Services offers experienced storage
consultants, proven methodologies, and a comprehensive services portfolio. HDS claims that it has
the storage expertise needed to understand the latest storage technologies and complex IT
architectures and knows how to align technology with business requirements. The company's goal is
to deliver the best fit with a high-performance solution tailored precisely to customers' business
objectives.
HDS offers customers a full range of support and services, including assessments, planning and
implementation, and integration and management. The company is expanding its cloud services
offerings.
Challenges
HDS has helped customers create their own private clouds (either enabling customers to build their
own clouds using HDS technologies or providing customers with an onsite solution owned and
managed by HDS) for some time. The company is expanding its offerings to include public cloud
solutions, delivered by HDS and through partners. This represents a new direction for the company,
and it may take some customers time to think of HDS as a cloud service provider (many customers
see HDS solely as a vendor of storage products). HDS is expected to demonstrate its readiness to
deliver quality cloud solutions to customers and its channel partners as a means to overcome this
challenge. One way to achieve this goal is by sharing real customer successes as well as success
with fulfillment over time.
From the market perspective, some organizations are hesitant to move their data to the cloud. Many
organizations will make their first step a private cloud in which they can maintain stronger control over
their data. HDS public cloud solutions may not attract them immediately. However, as organizations
gain both trust in cloud solutions and experience with their benefits, they may consider leveraging
public cloud solutions as part of their strategy.

5. ©2013 IDC 5
Conclusion
As data requirements grow, organizations will increasingly look to the cloud for cost-effective ways to
store, manage, and leverage the data they need to run their businesses. The solutions they choose
must incorporate both object-based storage and strong metadata capabilities that support
multitenancy and the ability to find and access the data that users need regardless of where that data
resides. Ultimately, customers also want to be able to choose the cloud delivery model that best suits
their access, security, scalability, and compliance needs.
HDS offers customers the ability to work with a single vendor, as well as its partners, to implement a
cloud solution based on the services the customers need and the cloud delivery model that is right for
them. If HDS addresses the challenges highlighted in this paper, IDC believes the company has a
significant opportunity for success.
A B O U T T H I S P U B L I C A T I O N
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