Can Cohesity and Veritas define data protection's future?

On Dec. 10, Cohesity completed its merger with Veritas' enterprise data protection business, creating a business with more than 12,000 enterprise customers and a dominant market share, according to the company.

From a Cohesity and Veritas perspective, the merger is a smart move. It consolidates market share and gives the combined firm a stronger presence in large enterprises, representing nearly 70% of the Global 500. But what does it mean for the data protection space in general, and why should IT leaders care?

The bottom line is that the way we think about data protection needs to evolve and expand to incorporate the tenets of data resilience. According to research from Informa TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group, 93% of organizations consider data resilience to be the combination of data security posture management, data management, data compliance and governance, and backup and recovery.

Now, the idea that data protection initiatives must better incorporate aspects of cybersecurity and cyber resilience is nothing new. However, with AI advancements poised to increase the value of internal data while also likely making cyberattacks more pervasive and potent, advancing your organization's ability to better understand, locate, protect, secure and recover data is becoming increasingly critical.

In addition, increased regulatory pressures from requirements such as Network and Information Systems 2 -- NIS2 -- and the Digital Operational Resilience Act -- DORA -- are coming into play. More scrutiny and investment must, therefore, be applied upfront to protect against risk and threats. Staying in a reactive mode hasn't really been a viable option, and it is becoming even less viable now.

When we look at what holds organizations back from adopting data resilience solutions, however, our research found that the most common challenges are tied to cost (cited by 38%), integration complexity (35%), the volume of data to understand and protect (35%) and a lack of internal skills (28%).

Combined, these challenges point to a need for greater innovation and a hyperfocus on consolidating and simplifying access to data resilience innovations. Simplifying and reducing costs associated with harnessing multiple aspects of data protection, security, resilience and insight is core to Cohesity's long-term strategy -- a strategy now strengthened by the integration of Veritas technology.

While preferences for individual tools will persist, current cost realities will encourage consolidating with innovators that can deliver a more comprehensive data resilience suite. Surprises in the cost of hypervisor licenses -- along with the rampant adoption of AI initiatives and the subsequent need for data --have placed increased pressure on budgets.

The average IT budget is projected to increase by 6.4% in 2025, up by more than a point and a half from the budget growth expected in 2024.

Budgets can't increase indefinitely. Given the increasingly critical role that the combination of data security, data management, data compliance and governance, and backup and recovery will have for enterprises moving forward, they will -- and already do -- need the ability to simplify and help control the cost and complexity of more traditional systems.

The combined Cohesity and Veritas entity presents a fascinating opportunity to deliver the simplicity and eventual consolidation the space will require. Cohesity said it will continue to invest in and advance the roadmaps and strategies for all products from both companies in the new combined portfolio and ensure that no customer is left behind. The company also points to a long-term solution -- one that will support a non-disruptive upgrade path as well as support Cohesity's security products, such as Cohesity DataHawk, and insight/analytics products such as Cohesity Turing and IT Analytics.

Moving forward, the combined firm's leadership will be under pressure to navigate this vision. There is a reason that larger companies often struggle to innovate at the same pace as smaller firms. When you try to make all your thousands of customers happy, their disparate demands typically steal cycles away from your core strategic vision.

In addition, while I see strong potential in this type of consolidation, the internal organizational dynamics can present another hurdle. While some businesses are positioned well organizationally to deploy an integrated approach, others might push back, wanting only a point solution. Cohesity has the flexibility to play in that realm; it just needs to appeal to multiple buyer types.

Cohesity and Veritas will have to navigate these dynamics if they wish to compete in a space that refuses to stand still. Competitors such as Veeam, Commvault, Dell, IBM, Rubrik, NetApp, and Hitachi Vantara continue to innovate. Also, while Cohesity has already made impressive strides in integrating artificial intelligence, AI will spawn a new crop of innovators to contend with.

Ultimately, the merger was a smart move. It's good for Veritas, Cohesity and their customers. The easy part, however, is done; the difficult part begins now.

Scott Sinclair is Practice Director with Informa TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group, covering the storage industry.

Informa TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group analysts have business relationships with technology vendors.