A Perfect Storm for Tech Innovators.

Is 2023 a Perfect Storm for the tech innovators like Pure Storage?

Last week I was sat in a lovely tapas restaurant in Madrid (Tascala Farmacia) with one of my A-Team Client Technical Directors (@Javier).  We had just wrapped up the end of another successful fiscal year for my team and for Pure, and we were discussing account plans for the coming year.  While much has been made of the political (esp. war in Europe), macro-economic and talent challenges going on, Javi asked me “So, Steve, what do you think about the year ahead?”…

TLDR; I’m MEGA excited about the year ahead for Pure!

The political and economic headwinds this year come as a perfect storm for Pure – let me explain why:

• High cost of cash and capital:  As-a-Service flexible consumption models aren’t just about “paying only for what you consume” – they’re also – “…and only when you consume it”.  It makes little sense to splash your next five years storage budget in one inefficient lump of tin and then hang around for your budget renewal to buy ‘next gen’ in four or five years time.
• High Inflation:  It’s like getting an annual price reduction!  Make your future $’s work harder for you.
• Power and utility costs:  HOT topic – This is very very real in Europe, and frankly environmentally responsible across the globe.   Witness massive power cost savings, reduce space, less cooling, fewer break / fix events, less port and SAN licensing.
• Tough carbon reduction targets:  The lowest emissions for enterprise storage products in the Industry – and even backed by an energy efficiency SLA!  fighting carbon taxes, enabling social responsibility
• Momentum to the hyperscalers:  creative Evergreen //One  (Storage-aaS) solutions actually help our customers with their Public and Private Cloud transformations – we ‘enable’ it, we don’t shy away from it!
• Unpredictable events – I can never fathom why so many bright folks think their business plans made today will not be impacted by what the World throws at them over the next few years.  My advice, take a look backwards to look forwards:  a global pandemic, acquisitions, divestitures, hyper growth, canned projects, layoffs, scarce resources,  offshoring, insourcing, utility costs tripling, £/€ vs US$ at its lowest in decades, inflation at 10% and higher when it was only zero not so long ago – all of this plays into an EverGreen //One utility consumption story.  Unforeseen events are precisely that – so anticipate them and model for them.
• Supply chain – As if things weren’t hard enough for infrastructure buyers and your IT project timelines, now you can’t even get hold of the kit you need to connect your storage into!!  That’s not such an issue for Pure – Fewer ports required, and they can deliver in 8-12 weeks, while their competitors are struggling with delays 12 months+ 😱.
• Tech layoffs – never a nice subject to hear about in any industry.  Pure can help your business reduce operational overhead allowing you to redeploy your resources on other projects that drive value, rather than cost.  We’re also growing! – so unlike many of our Silicon Valley counterparts or the DC dinosaurs – we’re recruiting not firing!!

This is Pure’s time, like never before,  to be CREATIVE and turn these economic headwinds into their ADVANTAGE.

As my learned colleague @Abe Barnes says:  “Subscribing to a service that will flex and adapt with you, and allow you to make course corrections without penalty or delay as your strategy evolves.  All of this is unlocked by a consumption model where the architecture, operations, and commercials all come together in perfect harmony to give you the ultimate de-risking tool.”

Energy Efficient SLA: https://www.purestorage.com/uk/knowledge/what-is-sla-for-energy-efficiency.html

Storage-aaS (Evergreen //One):  https://www.purestorage.com/uk/products/staas/evergreen/one.html

Lovely Tapas restaurant in Madrid:  https://tascalafarmacia.com/en/tasca-la-farmacia-en/