 Hello and welcome to theCUBE Studios in Palo Alto, California for another CUBE Conversation, where we go in depth with thought leaders driving innovation across the tech industry. I'm your host, Peter Burris. What does every CIO want to do? They want to support the business as it evolves and transforms using data as that catalyst for better customer experience, improved operations, and more profitable options. But to do that, we have to come up with a way of improving the underlying infrastructure that makes all of this possible. We can't have a situation where we introduce more complex applications in response to richer business needs and have that translated into non-scalable underlying technology. CIOs and 2020 and beyond have to increasingly push their suppliers to make things simpler. And that's true in all domains, but perhaps especially storage where the explosion of data is driving so many of these changes. So what does it mean to say that storage can be made more simple? Well, to have that conversation, we're going to be speaking with Eric Herzog, CMO of VP of Global Channels at IBM Storage, about, quite frankly, an announcement that IBM is doing to specifically address that question, making storage simpler. Eric, thanks very much for coming back to theCUBE. Great, thank you. We'd love to be here. All right, I know you got an announcement to talk about, but give us the update. What's going on with IBM Storage? Well, I think the big thing is, clients have told us, storage is too complex. We have a multitude of different platforms, an entry product, a mid-range product, a high-end product, then we have to traverse to the cloud. Why can't we get a simple, easy to use, but very robust feature set? So at IBM Storage with this flash system announcement, we have a family that traverses entry, mid-range, enterprise, and automatically can go out to a hybrid multi-cloud environment, all driven across a common platform, common API, common software, our award-winning spectrum virtualized, and innovative technologies around whether it be cyber resiliency, performance, incredible performance, ease of use, easier and easier to use. For example, we can do AI-based automated tiering from one flash array to another or from storage class memory to flash. Innovation, at the same time, deriving better value out of the storage, but not charging a lot of extra money for these features. In fact, our flash system's announcement, the platforms, depending on the configuration, can be as much as 50% lower than our previous generation. And that's delivering value, but at the same time, we added enhanced features. For example, the capability of even better container support than we already had in our older platform, or our new flash core modules that can deliver performance in a cluster of up to 17.2 million IOPS up from our previous performance of 15. Yet, as I said before, delivering that enterprise value and those enterprise data services, in this case, like I said, depending on the config, up to as much as 50% less expensive than some of our previous generation products. So let me unpack that a little bit. So historically, when you look at, or even today, when you look at how storage product lines are set up, they're typically set up for one footprint for the low end, one or more footprints in the mid-range, and then one or more footprints at the high end. And those are differentiated by the characteristics of the technologies being employed, the function and services that are being offered, and the prices and financial arrangements that are part of it. Are you talking about essentially a common product line that is differentiated only by the configuration needs of the volume and workloads? Exactly. The flash system traverses entry, mid-range enterprise, and can automatically get you out to a hybrid multi-cloud environment. Same APIs, same software, same management infrastructure, our storage insights product, which is a cloud-based storage management predictive analytics works on the entry product at no charge, mid-range product at no charge, the enterprise product at no charge, and we've even added in that solution support for non-IBM platforms, again. So delivering more value across a standard platform with a common API, a common software. Remember, today's storage is growing exponentially. Are the enterprise customers getting exponentially more storage admins? No. In fact, many of the big enterprises after the downturn of 08, 09 had to cut back on storage resources. They haven't hired back to how many storage resources they had in 2007 or eight. They've gotten back to full IT, but a lot of those guys are DevOps, people, or other functions. So the storage admins and the IT infrastructure admins have to manage extra petabytes, extra exabytes depending on the type of company. So one platform that can do that and traverse after the cloud automatically gives that innovation and that value. In fact, two of our competitors, just as an example to do the same thing, have four platforms. Two other have three. We can do it with one. Simple platform, common API, common storage management, common interface, incredible performance, cyber resiliency, but all built in something that's a common data management infrastructure with common data software, yet continuing to innovate as we've done with this release of the Flash System family. Okay, so talk about the things that, so your common API, common software, also I presume common, that core module, that Flash core module that you have, common across the family as well? Almost all the family, at the very entry space, we still do use standard SSDs. But we can get as low as a street price for an all Flash config of $16,000 for an all Flash array. Two, three years ago, that would have been unheard of. And by the way, it has six nines of availability, same software interface and API as a system that could go up to millions of dollars at the way high end, right? And anything in between. So, common ease of use, common management, simple to manage, simple to deploy, simple to use, but not simple in the value proposition. Reduce the TCO, reduce the ROI, reduce the operational manpower. They're overtaxed as it is. So by making this across the portfolio with the Flash System and go out to the hybrid multicloud, but bringing in all this high technology such as our Flash core modules, and as I said, at a reduced price to the previous generation, what more could you ask for? Okay, so you've got some promises that you made in 2019 that you're also actually realizing. One of my favorite ones, something I think is pretty important in storage class memory, talk about how some of those 2019 promises are being realized in this announcement. So what we did is we announced our first Flash system family in 2018 using our new NVMe Flash core modules. We had an older Flash system family several years ago that used the standard SAS interface. But our first NVMe product was announced in the summer of 2018. At that time, we said all the way back then that in early 20, we would be start shipping storage class memory. Now by the way, those Flash systems NVMe products that we announced back then actually can still use storage class memory. So we're protecting the investment of our installed base. Again, innovation with value on the installed base. A very IBM thing to do. Yes, we want to take care of the installed base. We also want to have new modern technologies like storage class memory, like improved performance and capacity in our Flash core modules where we take off the shelf flash and create our own modules, seven year media warranty, up to 17.2 million IOPS, 17 mics of latency, which is 30% better than our next nearest competitor. By the way, we can create a 17 million IOPS config in only eight RACU. One of our competitors gets close, 15 million, but it takes them 40 RACU. Again, operational manpower, 40 RACU is harder to manage. Simplicity of deployment. It's harder to just deploy all that in 40 RACU. We can do it in eight. And pricing. Yes, and we've even brought out now a pre-configured RAC. So what we call the Flash System 9200 are built into the RAC with a switching infrastructure, with the storage you need. IBM services will deploy it for you. That's part of the deal. And you can create big solutions that can scale dramatically. Now our stands for hybrid? RAC. RAC. Well talk to me about some of the hybrid packaging that you're bringing out for hybrid cloud. Sure. So from a hybrid cloud perspective, our spectrum virtualized software, which sits on-prem, entry mid-range, and at the upper end, can traverse to a cloud instantiation called spectrum virtualized for cloud. Now, one of the key things of spectrum virtualized, both on-prem and our cloud version, is it supports not only IBM arrays, but through a storage virtualization technology, over 450 arrays from multi-vendors, and in short, our competition. So we could take our arrays and automatically go out to the cloud. We can do a lot of things. Cloud air gapping to help with malware and ransomware protection, DR, snapshots and replicas. Not only can the Flash System, new Flash System family do that to spectrum virtualized on-prem and then out, but spectrum virtualized, coming on our Flash System portfolio, can actually virtualize non-IBM arrays and give them the same enterprise functionality, and in this case, hybrid cloud technology, not only for us, but for our competitors' products as well. One user interface. Now, talk about simple. Our own products, again, one family, entry, mid-range, and enterprise, traversing the cloud. Oh, and by the way, for those of you that are heterogeneous, we can deliver those enterprise-class servers, including going out to a hybrid multi-cloud configuration. For our competitors' products as well, one user interface, one throat to choke, one support infrastructure with our storage insights platform. So it's a great way to make things easier, cut the cat-backs and op-ex, but not cut the innovation. We believe in value and innovation, but in an easy-deploy methodology so that you're not overly complex, and that is killing people the complexity of their solutions. All right, so there's a couple things about cloud as we move forward. They're going to be especially interesting. One of them is going to be containers. Everybody's talking about, and IBM's been taught, you've been talking about, we've talked about this a number of times about how containers and storage and data are going to come together. How do you see this announcement supporting those emerging and evolving needs for container-based applications in the enterprise? So first of all, it's often tied to hybrid multi-cloudness. Many of the hybrid cloud configurations are configured on a container-based environment. We support Red Hat OpenShift. We support Kubernetes environments. We can provide on these systems at no charge persistent storage for those configurations. We also, although it does require a backup package, Spectrum Protect, the capability of backing up that persistent storage in an OpenShift or a Kubernetes environment. So it's critical. Part of our era of simplicity is this flash system platform with this technology can support bare-metal workloads, virtualized workloads, VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, OVM, and now container workloads. And we do see for the next coming years, think about bare-metal. Bare-metal is as old as I am, right? That's pretty old. Well, we got tons of customers, still got bare-metal applications, but everyone's also gone virtualized. So it's not, are we going to have one? It's you're going to have all three. So with the flash systems family and what we have with Spectrum virtualized software, what we have with our container support, we can give you bare-metal support, incredible performance, whatever you need, VMware integration, Hyper-V integration, everything you need for a virtualized environment and for a container environment, we have everything too. And we do think the, especially the mid-to-big accounts are going to probably run all three at least for the next couple of years. This gives you a platform that can do that at the entry point, up to the high end, and then out to a hybrid, multi-cloud environment. With that common set of software and APIs across. Now, every year that you and I have talked, you've been especially passionate about the need for turning the crank and evolving and improving the nature of automation, which is another one of the absolute necessities as we start thinking about cloud. How is this announcement helping to take that next step, turn the crank and automation? So a couple of things. One is our support now for Ansible. So offering that Ansible port integrates into the container management frameworks. Second thing is we have a ton of AI-specific based technology built into the flash system platform. First is our cloud-based storage management predictive analytics package, Storage Insights. The base version comes for free across that whole portfolio, whether it be entry, mid-range, or high-end across the whole flash system's family. Gives you predictive analytics. If you really do have a support problem, it eases the support issues. For example, instead of me saying, Peter, send me those log files, guess what? We can see the log files and we can do it right there while you're on the phone. You've got a problem? Let's make it easier for you to get it solved. So Storage Insights across AI-based predictive analytics, performance, configuration issues, all predictively done, so AI-based. Secondly, we've integrated AI into our spectrum-virtualized product. So as an example, our easy-tier technology can allow you to tier data from storage class memory to flash as an example, and guess what it does? It automatically knows, based on usage patterns, where the data should go. Should be on the storage class memory, should be on flash core modules, and in fact, we could create a configuration. We have flash core modules and industry-standard SSDs, which are both flash, but our flash core modules are substantially faster, much better latency, like I said, 30% better than the next nearest competition. Up to 17.2 million apps, the next closest is 15. And in fact, it's interesting, one of our competitors has used storage class memory as a read cache. It dramatically helps them, but they go from 250 publicly stated mics of latency to 125. With this product, the flash system, anything that uses our flash core modules, our flash system 7200, our flash system 9200 product, and the 9200 R product, we can do 70 mics of latency. So almost twice as fast, without using storage class memory. So think what that storage class memory will offer. So we can create hybrid configurations with storage class and flash. You could have our flash core modules and industry-standard SSDs if you want, but it's all AI-based. So we have AI-based in our storage insights, predictive analytics management, and support infrastructure. And we have predictive analytics and things like our easy tier. So not only do we think storage is a critical foundation for the AI application workload in use case, which it is, but you need to imbue your storage, which we've done across flash systems, including what we've done with our cloud edition, because Spectrum Virtualize has a cloud edition and an on-prem edition seamless transparency, but AI in across that entire platform using Spectrum Virtualize. All right, so let me summarize. We've got an absolute requirement from Enterprise to make storage simpler, which requires simpler product families with more commonality, where that commonality delivers great value, and yet at the same time, the opportunity to innovate, where that innovation is going to create value. We have a lot simpler set of interfaces and technologies, as I said, that are common, but that are more focused on the hybrid cloud, the multi-cloud world that we're working in right now that brings more automation and more high quality storage services to bear wherever you are in the enterprise. So I got to ask you one more question. I'm a storage administrator or a person who is administering data inside the infrastructure. I used to think of doing things this way. What is the one or two things that I'm going to do differently as a consequence of this kind of an announcement? So I think the first one is going to reduce your operational expenses and your operational manpower. Because you have a common API, a common software platform, a common foundation for data management and data movement, it's not going to be as complex for you to pull your storage configurations. Second thing, you don't have to make as many choices between high-end workloads, mid-range workloads, and entry workloads. Six nines across the board, enterprise-class data services across the board. So when you think simple, don't think simple as simplistic low-end. This is a simple to use, simple to deploy, simple to manage product with extensive innovation and enterprise- Simple to secure. And simple to secure. Data at rest encryption across the portfolio. And in fact, those that use our flash core modules, no performance hit on encryption and no performance hit on data compression. So it can help you shrink the actual amount you need to buy from us, which sounds sort of crazy that a storage company would do that. But with our data reduction technologies, compression being one of them, there's no performance hits. You can compress compressible workloads. And now anything with a flash core module, which by the way happens to be FIPS 140-2 certified, there's no excuse not to encrypt, because encryption, as you know, has had a performance hit in the past. Now our 7200, our 5100 flash system and our flash system, 9200, 9100, there's no performance on encrypting. So it gives you that extra resiliency that you need in a storage world and you don't get it on compression, which helps you shrink how much you end up buying from IBM. So that's the type of innovation we deliver in a simple to use, easy to deploy, easy to manage, but incredible innovative value brought into a very innovative solution across the board, not just let's innovate at the high end or you know what I mean, trying to get that innovation spread, which by the way makes it easier for the storage guy. Well, look, in a world, even inside a single enterprise, you're going to have branch offices, you're going to have local this, the edge, you can't let the bad guys in on a lesser platform that then can hit data on a higher end platform. So the days of presuming that there's this great differentiation in the tier are slowly coming to an end as everything becomes increasingly integrated. Well, as you pointed out many times, data is the asset. That's right. Not the most valuable one. It is the asset of today's digital enterprise and it doesn't matter whether you're a global Fortune 500, you're Herzog's barn grill. Everybody's a digital enterprise these days, big, medium or small. So cyber resiliency is important. Cutting costs is important. Being able to modernize and optimize your infrastructure simply and easily. The small guys don't have a storage guy and a network guy and a server guy. They have the IT guy and even the big guys who used to have hundreds of storage admins in some cases don't have hundreds anymore. They got a lot of IT people, but they cut back. These storage admins and infrastructure admins in these global enterprise, they're managing 10, 20 times the amount of storage they managed even two or three years ago. So simple, cross the board and of course hybrid multi-cloud is critical to these configurations. Eric's great announcement. Congratulations to IBM to actually delivering on what your promises are. Once again, great to have you on theCUBE. Great. Thank you very much, Peter. And thanks to you again for participating in this CUBE Conversation. I'm Peter Burris. See you next time.