Computing networks are not going away, but the business world of software development and data storage is changing due to cloud technologies. So how are storage companies adapting to this new world of cloud computing?

“The big focal area we have is turning the corner that we’re no longer an infrastructural hardware provider. We’re data management; we’re software-driven,” said Lee Howard (pictured), chief technology officer of global industry solutions and alliances at NetApp Inc. “We’re really rearranging ourselves, putting our money where our mouth is.”

Howard spoke with John Furrier (@furrier) and Stu Miniman (@stu), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Cisco Live event in Orlando, Florida. They discussed the changing needs of customers and how NetApp is catering to this new cloud environment. (* Disclosure below.)

Working to build trust with businesses

NetApp’s focal point going forward is to make a more intuitive, policy-driven automation to have adaptability for a shorter refresh cycle that isn’t three to five years but on a daily basis, according to Howard. This high flexibility is vitally important to cloud technologies because of the scalability. Change in the tech world is constant, so regularly managing that change effectively is crucial, he added.

“We’re on a six-month cadence,” Howard said. “We’re continuing to develop a better product on a software-based developmental scale rather than … having to wait for the hardware to get swapped out. And I think that’s where we’re seeing a lot of success.”

This has changed NetApp’s relationship with customers. “It took a while to gain the credibility to be able to enter into these newer conversations … to be able to say, ‘You know, this is no longer just an execution partner. We’re a strategic partner to be able to really go to market with and build that out,'” Howard concluded.

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

Photo: SiliconANGLE