Data and storage are key to scaling any digital transformation effort. So, with solutions providers clamoring to reshape the enterprise storage space, we’ve reached the point where a push toward true storage as a service, or STaaS, as the go-to consumption model is gaining serious momentum.

After a recent quarterly run that saw the company obliterate analyst estimates and deliver $708.6 million in revenue, Pure Storage Inc. — the all-flash storage solutions provider — is positioning itself to carve a profitable slice in the booming infrastructure-as-a-service space.

Industry analyst Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SilicionANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, and chief analyst at Wikibon, hosted the “At Your Storage Service,” event. In three separate interviews, Vellante spoke with a Pure Storage company executive, a leading industry research analyst, and Pure customer Open Line B.V. They discussed trends in the storage space, including the clamor toward a “pay-for-performance” culture and how it could turbocharge scalability and flexibility in operations. (* Disclosure below.) 

Did you miss the event? Here are the top three insights:

1) The ‘as-a-service’ model drives value for other cloud service providers as well.

While products such as all-flash storage and managed data centers are primarily targeted at enterprise customers, vendors also partner with other solutions providers to meet their technology needs.

A prime example of this is the cloud managed services provider Open Line B.V. The company, through its Pure-as-a-Service patronage, can respond faster to customer needs, reduce the costs of going cloud-based, and better facilitate entire migration strategies for its customers.

The company’s customer base primarily consists of healthcare, local government, logistics and social housing institutions, alongside mid-sized companies, according to Emile Stam (pictured), chief commercial officer and chief marketing officer of Open Line. These are all highly regulated or highly sensitive sectors, with little margin for operational setbacks.

But with the cost and scale benefits at play alongside improved security and compliance featured, stakeholders at these organizations are rapidly appreciating the flexibility of managed, as-a-service solutions.

These benefits also extend to Open Line itself, as Pure powers a lot of its storage solutions.

“We use fewer resources to manage our storage,” Stam said. “We are far more adaptable, and we have a near maintenance-free storage solution now because we have it as a service and we work closely together with Pure.”

Watch theCUBE’s full video interview with Emile Stam below:

2) IT buyers, architects and CIOs see a consumption-based model as ‘natural.’

When studying any industry for insights and signals, research and strategy professionals are always a great point of contact. With that said, the reception from stakeholders like IT buyers and infrastructure architects has been positive, as they view consumption-based models like STaaS to be a more natural model, according to Steve McDowell, senior analyst of data and storage at Moor Insight & Strategy.

“It extends the data center, brings all of the flexibility, all of the goodness that I get from public cloud, but without all of the downside and uncertainty on cost and security and similar things that also come with the public cloud,” McDowell said. “And it’s delivered by technology providers that I know and trust.”

The as-a-service style is also drawing a following from chief information officers and, while there isn’t hard data on adoption yet, it’s clearly trending upwards, McDowell added.

Watch theCUBE’s full video interview with Steve McDowell below:

3) The difference between broken subscriptions and true storage as a service.

As organizations analyze the changing consumption styles within the enterprise around solutions like storage, conflations between certain terms can often cloud product perception. One of those mix-ups is in differentiating between STaaS and broken subscriptions.

Looking past discussing the financials (capital expenditure vs. operational expenditure), a true STaaS experience has to incorporate service-level objectives and service-level agreements. As part of the fine print, these allow for thorough monitoring and accountability on the solution provider’s part, according to Prakash Darji, general manager of the Digital Experience Business Unit at Pure Storage.

“The concept of delivering storage as a service means: What do you want in storage? Performance, capacity, availability?” Darji stated. “That’s what you want. And, well, how do you get that without having to worry about the labor of planning and capacity management?

The removal of those labor elements is the answer, he explained.

The delivery of a true-to-form STaaS experience goes beyond OpEx-style billing and extends to capacity management, SLA measurement and transparency, and proactive flexibility within the requisite hardware and software for customers, Darji concluded.

Watch theCUBE’s full video interview with Prakash Darji below:

And you can watch the full event video below:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “At Your Storage Service” event. Neither Pure Storage Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE