No matter how much changes in life and in IT, two things stay the same: 1. Data continues to grow, and 2. Backup remains a problem. Last year when ESG polled storage decision makers on their data storage challenges, the rapid rate of data growth and backup/protection were two of the top three most commonly identified storage challenges.[1] They were also two of the top three storage challenges in ESG’s 2017 storage research, and in 2015, 2012, 2008, and… well, you get the idea.
This week, Pure Storage and Cohesity announced a partnership to deliver FlashRecover; a new solution that combines Pure Storage’s FlashBlade technology with Cohesity’s DataProtect software to accelerate data recovery by delivering all-flash data backup and recovery capabilities. These capabilities are incredibly valuable, or rather essential, when restoring from an outage or facing a ransomware attack. And, given that nearly half (47%) of organizations report an increase in cyber-attacks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] improving data restoration capabilities might be a very smart thing to do.
Also, FlashRecover is more than a sales agreement. The two companies are collaborating on development offering integration in the management interface and simplifying the combined protection environment. The two companies are also collaborating with service and support to smooth out the entire experience.
So why do we need all-flash data protection/recovery?
I am going to over-simply this, but when I talk to IT organizations about protecting data, people tend to fall into one of two categories:
- Those who want to make sure the data is backed up.
- Those who want to make sure that if something happens, they can get everything back up and running immediately.
Now, those may sound like the same people, but they are not. The first group wants to protect the data (and their jobs) but they are often disconnected from the business as a whole. Often the rest of the company views these IT organizations as necessary, but cost centers. Sometimes the IT orgs feel it themselves and as such they act like cost centers protecting data and doing their jobs, but remaining separated from the needs of the larger business.
Now, the second group: These organizations view themselves as competitive differentiators, central to business operations, and rightfully so. They see their job as empowering all facets of the business and understand that every second the business is down is lost revenue and lost opportunity.
I shouldn’t have to tell you which group you want to be in. (But, it’s the second one.)
If you still don’t believe that these two groups exist, let me ask you a question: Why do we still talk about “backup windows”? We should be focusing on “restore windows,” or in other words, how we minimize the time that it takes to get everything back to normal. This is what I expect Pure Storage and Cohesity are advocating for with this launch. And, if so, I agree.
Pure Storage has long been and continues to be a leader and an advocate for accelerating data storage infrastructure with flash technology, and Cohesity is a leader in delivering modern data protection and data management. This is a smart move by both companies; one that looks very compelling for users. We need to prioritize getting the business back up, not just backing up the data.
[1] Source: ESG Master Survey Results, 2019 Data Storage Trends, November 2019.
[2] Source: ESG Master Survey Results, Technology Impact of COVID-19, May 2020
