“Storage will become utility; and software-not hardware will drive it": Kumar Malavali

Director of SNS (Storage Networking Summit), Co-founder of Brocade, and considered by many as the father of SAN (storage area networks), Kumar Malavalli has few predictions to make for the storage industry. In an exclusive interview given to Channels India, Kumar shared his belief that very soon storage will become utility and that software is what will really drive the way it gets adopted and utilized across the enterprise. To the dismay of many storage vendors, Kumar also says that hardware will be taken for granted in the days to come. And finally, he has words of consolation for DAS (disk-attached storage) players saying that DAS will not die out as various compliance and archival-related needs will ensure its survival.

“These are exciting times for the storage industry, as it is just getting out of its infancy stage. The time is getting just right for service providers to offer services in the space of data recovery, backup and security,” remarks Kumar. Kumar is in Bangalore as an organizer for the third edition of SNS in India. He is accompanied by Brenda Christensen who also is the director of SNS and serves on the board of various companies including Cloverleaf Communications and Indian SI firm Apara Enterprise Solutions.

Kumar Malavalli Hardware to be taken for granted in days to come

Among other things, he also predicts that vendor-agnostic SI organizations will soon become a majority in the country and that their businesses will be more driven by customer needs than vendor propaganda. “Vendors will try and resist this change of SIs becoming company-independent, but that's a reality that everyone will have to come to terms with,” asserts Kumar.

On the often-talked consolidation in the storage industry, both Kumar and Brenda dismiss such a possibility. “The big guys will stay in their place while newer and newer product companies will get created, each offering a unique value proposition.” remarks Brenda. Other reason which she feels will help smaller outfits grow is their efficiency in addressing the SME customers. “Large players will always prove to be expensive for the SME clients and cannot command that competitive edge,” adds she.

GOLDIE