In a data-driven world, enterprises are trying to extract value from their data and associate it with their products or services to promote business. Companies that will outperform the competition will be those that can analyze the data and take advantage of it in a faster way, according to Guy Churchward (pictured), chief executive officer of the enterprise data storage solutions Datera Inc.

“Companies do not care whether the data is at the edge or it is in the center or in the cloud,” Churchward said. “They need instant access to it for enrichment purposes and to make fast and accurate decisions. They don’t want data silos.”

Churchward spoke with Peter Burris (@plburris), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at theCUBE’s studio in Palo Alto, California. They discussed data flexibility needs, how companies are moving to a data-driven model, and Datera’s approach in this market. (* Disclosure below.)

Freedom to process data where it is

Companies increasingly want freedom to process data where they are, not just in the data center for artificial intelligence and machine learning. “That’s really what people are saying: ‘I’m not going to have any long pole in my technology tent. I’m not going to have anything slow me down,’” Churchward stated. “They need complete fluidity in their data.”

This new reality is moving enterprises from hardware-defined infrastructure to software-defined infrastructure. “As we move forward, they not only build a data-defined infrastructure, but they don’t want lock-in either,” he said. “They want optionality, and that means they want term licenses; they don’t want these proprietary silos, and they need data flexibility on the back of it.”

Datera need not convince customers to switch to a software-defined model, Churchward explained, because they already know they are going there. “The question on the journey is how fast they want to get there,” he said.

To meet customer needs, Datera has also transformed itself from an appliance business to a software business exclusively, which now sells basically term agreement. From a billing perspective, the company is going to run roughly 350% up year-over-year, according to Churchward.

“If I look at 2016, ’17 and ’18, we have actually bought more customers on board in 2019 than all three years pulled together,” he pointed out. “So we are actually finishing a very, very strong year.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations. (* Disclosure: Datera Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Datera nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE