Storage technology has come a long way from the early days of magnetic tapes and floppy disks. From the advent of hard disk drives, solid-state drives and beyond, technology continues to evolve rapidly.

Examining that evolution will be of chief focus during “The Next Generation of Storage” virtual event on Jan. 10. It will be a chance to spotlight key milestones, such as cloud storage, distributed systems and the integration of artificial intelligence, while discussing its impact and demonstrating how businesses can leverage those innovations to enhance efficiency and competitiveness, according to theCUBE industry analyst John Furrier.

“Moreover, we’ll delve into the critical aspects of data security, exploring new protection techniques, modern operation, storage automation and key sustainability focuses,” he said.

Those questions and more will be explored by Furrier and his co-analyst Dave Vellante as they talk with industry professionals about what comes next. Join theCUBE on Jan. 10 for our coverage of “The Next Generation of Storage” virtual event on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. (* Disclosure below.)

Find out what’s in store for theCUBE’s coverage of “The Next Generation of Storage” virtual event:

Growing in the right places

In November, Pure Storage Inc. reported a fiscal third quarter that was good as a whole. It saw a 13% rise in revenue, to $762.8 million, on a 26% increase in subscription services revenue. However, its four-quarter revenue forecasts of $784 million and $2.82 billion for the full fiscal year were below the consensus estimates of $919 million and $2.96 billion. The company said the lower estimates were due to delays in a single contract with a telecommunications customer, and Chief Financial Officer Kevan Krysler noted that sales of the Evergreen storage-as-a-service portfolio plans doubled this year and “will drive long-term growth for Pure.”

Earnings of 21 cents a share, meanwhile, beat the consensus estimate of 11 cents. Speaking about the results at the time, Steve McDowell, principal analyst and founding partner of NAND Research LLC, said the company was growing in all the right places.

“I really hate that its earnings are being overshadowed by its downbeat forecast,” he said. “Pure grew by double digits when HPE’s storage business was flat and NetApp’s was down.”

AI is changing storage demands

Like every industry, the advent of AI has led to increased demands on storage companies. In November, Pure Storage released a survey in partnership with Wakefield Research that stated that organizations aren’t prepared for the massive energy requirements and data demands of AI.

“As power and data demands increase exponentially in the age of AI, investing in and deploying the right AI-ready data infrastructure is not only essential to effective deployment and energy efficiency but to driving the most value out of AI projects,” said Rob Lee, Pure Storage’s chief technology officer, in a statement.

Over the past year, Pure Storage has unveiled various new announcements, including one in October that saw the flash storage pioneer beefing up its Evergreen service with cost and data resiliency guarantees. The company also announced a new disaster recovery-as-a-service offering and scalable AI-powered management capabilities that it said would support more sustainable and intelligent storage operations.

“We’re making storage an appreciating asset,” said Prakash Darji, vice president and general manager of Pure’s Digital Experience Business Unit, at the time. “It’s no longer a depreciating asset.”

Earlier in the year, the company debuted new flash storage arrays and cybersecurity features, which it said were designed to mitigate the impact of ransomware attacks. The first two additions were the FlashArray//C R4 and FlashArray//X R4 storage systems, with the company saying organizations could expect an up to 40% increase in performance compared with earlier-generation gear.

Where might the storage industry be going next, and what use cases are at play in cloud storage innovation and new data protection techniques? Plus, what are the critical aspects of data security to watch moving forward?

These discussions, and more, will be explored during “The Next Generation of Storage” event. TheCUBE will provide full coverage of the event to capture all the breaking news and offer analyst-driven commentary. You can follow theCUBE’s wall-to-wall coverage for firsthand insights.

TheCUBE event livestream

Don’t miss theCUBE’s coverage of “The Next Generation of Storage” event on Jan. 10. Plus, you can watch theCUBE’s event coverage on-demand after the live event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch theCUBE’s coverage of “The Next Generation of Storage” event, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

SiliconANGLE also has analyst deep dives in our Breaking Analysis podcast, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify.

Guests

During the “The Next Generation of Storage” event, theCUBE analysts will talk with Ajay Singh, CPO of Pure Storage; Prakash Darji, GM of the Digital Experience Business Unit at Pure Storage; and Steve McDowell, principal analyst and founding partner at Nand Research LLC.

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

Image: SiliconANGLE