When it comes to data storage, bigger is better, but fastest is best. Businesses need access to their data on demand. This has created a market for companies like Pure Storage Inc., a provider of software-driven data storage systems, that can make storage go fast.

“If you look at the curve of Moore’s Law, mechanical disk just doesn’t follow,” said Scott Dietzen, chief executive officer of Pure Storage, during the Pure//Accelerate 2017 conference in San Francisco.

Dietzen spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Stu Miniman (@stu), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile live-streaming studio, about data storage, customer needs and market opportunity. (* Disclosure below.)

Pushing through data transfer bottlenecks

Pure Storage did the math on cost reduction curves, and from that, the company discovered ways to drive down costs while improving density. Flash storage is part of the plan. Flash has advanced to the point where it’s relatively cheap to buy and deploy. This can save money both on the install and in operating costs, according to Dietzen. Pure Storage also seeks to pay off in terms of business value.

Starting at the performance side of the storage market, Pure Storage knew flash would soon dominate. However, flash technology is hitting a wall of sorts in terms of the data pipe, Dietzen explained. No matter how much storage holds, a system can only process the data so quickly. This is driving a sea change in new protocols for data reduction.

Customers have told Pure that they can’t innovate quickly and want more value from their data. This is because they’re constrained by legacy tech that can’t give them access to their data at speed. Likewise, their infrastructure is cumbersome and prevents them from evolving. New data storage is part of the recipe for solving that issue, Dietzen stated.

“Early on, we targeted the cloud market because we knew that’s where the future lies,” Dietzen said.

Even traditional enterprise companies wanted the benefits of cloud inside their own data centers. Pure seeks to be a supplier to this consumer cloud internet because that’s where the data center is going, Dietzen explained. At the same time, data footprints are growing, making it impossible to transfer those datasets. The next step is to get better at capturing and processing data where it’s generated, he added.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of Pure//Accelerate 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Pure//Accelerate 2017. Neither Pure Storage Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE