DataCore is on a sprint, but at the same time a marathon. Cloud is not the all-encompassing solution. Data is partly finding its way back, and the brand wants to capitalize on that.
Software Defined Storage, SDS to its friends, is the foundation that has made DataCore big since 1998. SANsymphony is key to the brand’s success and also the only product in the portfolio through 2020 with a focus on block and file storage.
It’s a marathon, but secretly also a sprint. In four years, it acquired five organizations to expand further into cloud, kubernetes and edge. The first, resulting in Swarm, still focused very much on SDS. The acquisition of MayaData with OpenEBS brought a container platform. The next two acquisitions put the focus on edge with Perifery and Object Matrix.
The most recent is the one with the greatest ambitions: AI+ that includes automated workflows.

Data explosion and NIS2
DataCore CEO Dave Zabrowski stands swiftly on stage at the annual DataCore Days, this year in Menton, France. Just before that, we got to see an extremely playful video. Work hard, play hard, that’s how it all feels at DataCore.
Zabrowski points to the trend cited by every storage farmer: “The data explosion is everywhere. Every 14 months, data doubles. For us, those are market opportunities.”
He still seamlessly hangs his NIS2 wagon on it:. “The new regulations point to mandatory cyber resilience for companies. Data management becomes the key. Prevent, detect and recover.” We see the three words appear multiple times in the other presentations that day.
NIS2 will be a major focus for DataCore. A new NIS2-specific solution will follow later this month about which little is known for now.
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DataCore sets its sights on cloud realists and edge opportunities
Ample supply thanks to acquisitions
With DataCore.Next, the company has a strong core for the future, courtesy of numerous acquisitions and several rounds of investment:
- SANsymphony: SDS, the foundation with which DataCore has grown. This focuses purely on cloud and edge.
- Swarm: An AWS S3-native solution. Applicable in the cloud, edge and on-premises.
- AI+: AIOps workflows, or edge AI automation and workflow automation. Applicable in the cloud, on-premises and the edge.
- OpenEBS: Container-native storage platform for Kubernetes-based solutions. Again here the three pillars: on-premises, cloud and edge.
Zabrowski points to the opportunities in the coming years because there is a clear trend. “By the end of 2024, we will be moving toward a total global storage capacity of 4,250 exabytes, coming from 1,420 exabytes in 2020. That’s a huge climb, but the budget that organizations give to IT infrastructure has not grown proportionately with it. We need to jump into that gap.”

Cloudrealism
The CEO brings up this trend several times in his keynote: the exodus to on-premises has begun. “Cloud customers today recognize that costs are skyrocketing and data sets are getting too big. Even Amazon admitted just last quarter in its quarterly earnings commentary that it is observing this trend.”
The edge is going to play a very important role, according to Zabrowski. “Large data sets need to be managed in the edge. All the data has become too big to manage from one central location. Everything happens in the edge, only the metadata is moved to a central location.”
Not coincidentally, that is the core of DataCore, making it natural for Zabrowski to continue to succeed on that nail. On the other hand, we have to agree with him that DataCore is optimally positioned to take advantage of this in Europe where it primarily operates.
Kubernetes as a growth opportunity
At the end of his keynote, the CEO points out that organizations should not be fooled. “Beware of cloudwashing. Organizations drop old applications into the cloud and think they’re done. No way. The same thing is happening massively with artificial intelligence right now. Try to be realistic or reality will catch up with you.”
Beware of cloud washing. Organizations drop old applications into the cloud and think they’re done. No way.
DataCore CEO Dave Zabrowski
Finally, Zabrowski wants to make a case for containers. “For us, Kubernetes is strategically incredibly important. After all, it’s the most efficient way to deploy applications today. Virtualization has won out over bare metal. Kubernetes is going to make its mark in the same way.”
At the same time, he couples his love of containers with a major new announcement with a supported solution from OpenEBS for the enterprise segment.
Kubernetes is becoming a major source of revenue for DataCore, the CEO said. That combined with loyal workhorse SANsymphony and the start of an AI track makes the company an interesting party to keep an eye on in the coming period.