Object-based storage (OBS) is still a market in its infancy and several suppliers of commercial OBS solutions have struggled to generate a meaningful revenue stream from their offerings. Some of the inhibitors to the adoption of object-storage platforms have been longer sales cycles, new vs. traditional architectures, and a platform divergence from general purpose or unified storage (i.e., one suited for many workloads) to one that is more workload specific in nature. Yet, OBS platforms offer a promising future for organizations trying to balance scale, complexity, and costs.
"What makes this market segment and this MarketScape interesting is the dynamic push/pull between commercial OBS architectures and the open source momentum we are seeing with OpenStack. This has strategic implications for the industry as a whole," said Ashish Nadkarni, Research Director Storage Systems. "Vendors of commercial OBS platforms in turn are announcing partner programs, joining alliances for standards, and making their offerings more purpose built or easy to adopt as a hedge against the proliferation of open source platforms."
Additional findings from the IDC report include:
I- n 2013, OBS solutions will account for nearly 37% of file-and-OBS (FOBS) market revenues
- Object platforms need to accommodate adjacent compute workloads along with data affinity or localization
- Emerging OBS technologies include: Compustorage (hyperconverged), Seagate Open Storage platform, and Intel's efforts with OpenStack
- Larger market shares among the leading vendors does not necessarily imply a stronger OBS platform in terms of capabilities
- Other OBS vendors mentioned in the report include: Exablox, Inktank, SwiftStack, and Quantum.
This study, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Object-Based Storage 2013 Vendor Analysis (IDC #244081) assesses the capabilities and business strategies of leading vendors in the (scale-out) object-based storage market segment, which is part of the overall file-and-OBS market. This evaluation is based on a comprehensive framework and a set of parameters that gauge the success of a vendor to be successful in delivering an OBS solution in the market. This study includes analysis of the 13 most notable players in the commercial OBS market, with broader portfolios and global scale.
About IDC MarketScape
IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of IT, telecommunications, or industry-specific suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT, telecommunications, or industry-specific vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a transparent foundation to allow companies to independently compare the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.
For more information about IDC MarketScape, please contact Karen Moser at kmoser@idc.com.