Software-driven storage enhancements played a central role in the announcements made by Dell Technologies Inc. this month.

Recent advances in PowerStore, Dell’s intelligent all-flash storage portfolio, highlighted security upgrades and new features for operational efficiency and power savings.

“Over the last year, since the last time we sat down with you, we’ve delivered over 2,000 software-driven storage features across our entire portfolio,” said Shannon Champion (pictured, left), vice president of product marketing at Dell, who noted that 85% of employees in the company’s Infrastructure Solutions Group were software engineers. “Their job is really to take that hardware and make it easier to use, integrate it into the full stack. That’s the nature of the cloud announcements that we had; it’s the nature of how PowerStore is originally architected.”

Champion spoke with theCUBE industry analysts Dave Vellante and Lisa Martin at Dell Technologies World, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. She was joined by Drew Schulke (right), vice president of product management, APEX Console and Common Operating Environment at Dell, and they discussed how PowerStore’s security and operational efficiency solutions are making inroads in the storage marketplace. (* Disclosure below.)

Support for critical industries

In the cybersecurity area, Dell has added a configuration standard to PowerStore. The integration of Security Technical Implementation Guides, or STIGs, could prove attractive beyond agencies in the federal government.

“Our PowerStore product is now STIG compliant, so it meets the highest levels of security standards for the Department of Defense,” Schulke said. “A number of our customers have been deemed ‘critical industries’ by the executive branch of the government today. What we mean by that are utility companies, transportation companies, financial institutions, they’re beginning to be held to the same bar that was previously reserved for Department of Defense agencies.”

In addition to meeting stringent security requirements, Dell’s PowerStore has been engineered to help meet power savings and energy certification needs. Dell’s customers are increasingly more focused on integrating power efficiencies into IT operations, according to Champion.

“We know that 80% of customers or more are making sustainability and energy efficiency a key buying decision,” Champion said. “PowerStore, with this new release, is our most power-efficient storage system, 60% more energy efficient, more IOPS per watt, with several energy certified models. We’re listening to our customers, we’re building in the things that matter, and releasing them as quickly as we can.”

The pace of Dell’s storage software release schedule will apparently continue through 2023 and well into next year. Although the company made a series of announcements during Dell Technologies World this week, it has no plans to pull back from its software deployment initiatives.

“Expect to see a software release from us each and every quarter across our entire primary storage portfolio,” Schulke said. “We’ve got a very compelling roadmap for the next 12 to 18 months. Stay tuned.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Dell Technologies World:

(* Disclosure: Dell Technologies Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Dell nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE