Storage has been a cornerstone of data centers for years. Traditionally, companies upgraded their storage systems every few years, replacing the entire setup with the latest hardware. Initially exciting, these shiny new arrays often quickly became hard to manage and slow in performance.
Then the cloud revolutionized everything. With its pay-as-you-go model, cloud solutions kept that feeling of freshness alive for users. They offered flexibility, fast deployment, effortless scaling, and cost efficiency. In response, storage suppliers adapted their offerings. Today, you can choose from fully owned systems with lifetime upgrades to flexible, pay-as-you-go options that adjust capacity and performance based on AI monitoring.
Let’s break down traditional storage refresh cycles. Typically, organizations refresh their storage roughly every three years, acquiring new hardware outright. This brings a host of benefits, like a brand-new setup with ample capacity and the latest security updates. Performance usually sees a notable boost, and new systems are often more energy-efficient, requiring less maintenance. This setup can better integrate with modern tech, like cloud services and containers.
But the old refresh cycle has challenges, too. While all that shiny new hardware works wonders initially, performance tends to decline over time, especially as data volumes grow. Technologies evolve quickly, and what worked two years ago can suddenly feel outdated. Additionally, relying solely on software updates may lead to a tangled mess of patches, and older systems struggle to keep up with newer software demands. Upgrade time can also bring major disruptions, from installations to migrations. Plus, when you buy your storage outright, you take on all the risk. If something fails, your organization bears the burden of those outages.
Now, let’s talk finances. Capital expenditure (capex) means spending big on physical assets, a one-time investment where ownership is transferred to the buyer. While capex might not always provide tax deductions, it can be depreciated over time. On the other hand, operational expenditure (opex) covers ongoing running costs—like cloud service payments—which are tax-deductible in the year they occur and appear on financial statements.
For a long time, many organizations, particularly in the UK public sector, mostly relied on capex. That’s changing though, thanks to the rise of the cloud, which has made opex a common way to handle storage expenses.
The cloud operating model allows organizations to consume infrastructure instead of owning it, breaking free from that rigid three-year refresh cycle. Instead, companies can pay for storage as they use it. Vendors keep the hardware updated, scale capacity as needed, and handle any breakdowns. This approach means no large-scale upgrades every few years and no gradual inefficiencies as systems age. Often, vendors even provide remote monitoring to manage performance and capacity needs, aligning costs with real-time usage.
However, moving to opex storage purchasing has its downsides. That transfer of risk from vendor to customer in a capex model can feel like security, but switching to consumption-based options can lead to less control. When clients hand over maintenance and upgrades to a vendor, they may find it challenging if something goes wrong. There are also concerns around security and compliance—some organizations might find that cloud services don’t meet their specific requirements, making as-a-service solutions unfeasible.
Effective vendor relationship management becomes crucial in a cloud model to ensure service performance aligns with expectations. Additionally, organizations run the risk of being locked into specific suppliers with consumption models.
So, what do storage vendors offer? They provide a spectrum of options, ranging from pure opex models to capex investments that come with upgrade agreements. In as-a-service setups, clients commit to minimum usage levels, while at the capex end, they can still purchase hardware outright but benefit from ongoing support and upgrades.
Let’s highlight a few vendors’ offerings:
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Dell Apex Flex on Demand: Customers can choose from various storage solutions, committing to a usage term and adjusting their capacity based on future needs. They can manage infrastructure usage and costs through the APEX Console.
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HPE GreenLake: This model blends hardware and software, with a monthly subscription covering everything from block to object storage.
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Hitachi Vantara: Offers the EverFlex program for storage which can be purchased or leased based on consumption models.
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IBM: Provides Storage as a Service, letting clients use a mix of on-premise and hybrid cloud solutions with pay-per-use pricing.
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NetApp Keystone: Delivers options that include outright purchases and flexible payment structures based on usage, all monitored through the Active IQ dashboard.
- Pure Storage: Offers solutions under the Evergreen brand, providing both lifetime upgrades for purchased hardware and pay-as-you-go capacity options.
These vendors cater to various needs, making storage purchasing flexible and aligned with contemporary business demands.