Data and workloads are interlinked which is why successful cloud management will be crucial

Cloud management is essential for managing data and information as well as the security of the corresponding business. It is simple to monitor the system's operation with the use of cloud management services. It ensures complete information security while streamlining overall management and lowering complexity.

The Dell PowerStore portfolio has undergone updates, and Dell Technologies has introduced solutions that will drive technological advancements in Indian industry. Better energy efficiency and greater cyber resilience will result from Dell's PowerStore Plus introduction to Zero Trust architecture.

In an exclusive interview with Manish Gupta, Vice President, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies, spoke about the current upgrade. Excerpts:

Can you share the highlights of Dell PowerStore Plus launch?

Dell Technologies’ launch of PowerStore+ is in continuation of the upgrades introduced over the past year. We introduced simplified data backup to multicloud environments for customers to drive innovation with flexible storage automation. We have also introduced new security enhancements to accelerate Zero Trust adoption to help customers better protect, prevent and respond to cyberattacks. Our latest upgrades in PowerStore are set to improve DevOps and system performance across the customer's value chain. Not only these, our new innovations make the PowerStore+ suite, the most sustainable of our storage offerings, delivering on more operations per watt. 

Why is Zero Trust needed in storage infrastructure?

Every element of business infrastructure needs to be secured. With storage as a core element of enterprise IT, it is critical that the data in storage remains protected. The rise in sophisticated cybersecurity incidents and an increasing surface area underlines why storage systems need to be protected. Zero Trust shifts how we fundamentally approach security. It breaks our idea of just protecting our devices at the perimeter and helps us secure data only on trusted data pipelines. 

How will multicloud change the scenario for Indian businesses?

In today's rapidly changing digital landscape, simply collecting data is not enough. To effectively meet the ever-evolving expectations of customers, businesses need to have the right infrastructure to manage data across cloud environments. Multicloud approach is easy to manage and will help Indian businesses derive insights from data at faster time-to-market. The ability to access an ever-expanding set of innovations across clouds will open an entire ecosystem to deliver modern IT. A multicloud strategy is going to help Indian businesses manage costs and operations, with better flexibility and agility in IT. Application efficiency is another important advantage in the multicloud environment. Addressing the new cloud needs, our latest PowerStore upgrades will provide enterprises convenient backup to the cloud capability through PowerStore’s deeper integration into Dell’s physical and software-defined data protection solutions. 

What trends do you see in the storage market in India?

Data and storage systems are one of the top agendas in every enterprise's digital transformation efforts. We expect innovations to pick up in the following areas - 

• Software approach to data management: The hardware approach is inherently limited to the data which exists within the systems, lowering the effectiveness of storage in an enterprise where data is likely to be far more distributed. To effectively manage unstructured data, we expect a move to software-first data management strategy. 
• AI/ML in storage: With the rise of new-age workloads, businesses will require infrastructure that is optimised to manage the data. The need for AI/ML linked storage with a competitive degree of analytics, will be an upcoming trend. To take on the new market opportunities, enterprises will be needing infrastructure that can make data accessible at a faster time, without compromise. 
• Multicloud upgrades: Management of data is expensive which is why cloud storage has become increasingly popular. This trend will continue to grow with the proliferation of cloud-native solutions. However, data and workloads are interlinked which is why successful cloud management will be crucial for businesses. The multi-cloud approach will be ideal in creating an ecosystem where data can move freely and securely.   
• Zero Trust in storage: The infrastructure which manages data will rapidly evolve to include new-age security architecture like Zero Trust, and enterprise class compliances. 
• Sustainable IT: Organizations will be looking to increase their sustainability efforts. Through intelligent infrastructure, storage architectures will become more energy efficient, compact and resourcefully manufactured. 

How is Dell helping Indian businesses achieve their sustainability goals?

We have consistently deployed innovations in power management, thermals and processor upgrades that have increased the energy efficiency of the PowerEdge portfolio while dramatically reducing their energy intensity. Recycling product packaging and using renewable & recycled materials in the products are a part of Dell’s culture. The company has made a considerable amount of innovation when it comes to infrastructure solutions too. Our latest innovation in PowerStore delivers up to 60% more IOPS (input/output operations per second) per watt making the latest offerings the most energy efficient PowerStore system to date. With this advancement, Dell is addressing the increased need for energy efficiency and sustainability, one of the most important criteria for IT buying decisions.