How The Pandemic Changed On-Premise Storage & What to Expect in the Future

With ‘work-from-home’ becoming the new normal, legal, reputational, and operational implications have changed the use and importance of traditional on-premise data storage setups.

September 30, 2022

Despite concerns over data privacy and security, supply chain disruptions, cost challenges, and the massive influence of cloud-based alternatives, on-premise data storage solutions hold significant sway following the Covid-19 pandemic. Let’s look at the challenges faced by on-premise storage today and the tech developments that help it remain relevant in an increasingly challenging business environment. 

With the world emerging from the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, the effects of the crisis are likely to continue. Data architecture and strategy have witnessed significant changes, with government bodies, service sector organizations, and enterprises undergoing remarkable operational modifications.

Despite social distancing being mandatory in most parts of the world, enterprises have needed to continue acquiring and analyzing data. The need for data processing and storage has gained importance as business risks have skyrocketed, and every decision has greater potential ramifications.

See More: The Future of Data Needs a Cloud and On-Premise Solution

Key Challenges Influencing Data Storage Choices

In the last few years, the ability of businesses to acquire, process, and analyze data has been a key differentiating factor. As companies aggressively pursue growth, a few critical challenges continue influencing their choice of data storage solutions.

Organizational economics influence strategy

The use of data to analyze demand and supply, supply chains, workforce, and consumer base has grown in recent years. However, this potential arises with a considerable cost. In particular, the rise in video calls for operational purposes has been a key factor driving up data management costs.

Activities such as modernizing data architecture, developing optimized algorithms, and acquiring data from unique sources can cost billions of dollars for large-scale enterprises. According to a McKinsey reportOpens a new window , an average mid-size organization spends approximately a 20th of its operating costs on data architecture, sourcing, governance, and usage.

Key strategies to minimize data management costs include:

  • Simplifying data architecture
  • Optimizing data sourcing from third parties
  • Streamlining data consumption
  • Working on data governance rules
  • Maximizing value.

Cyber security implications

Mandated restrictions to curb the pandemic’s effects have exponentially increased the number of employees working from their homes. Despite this, numerous companies cannot provide their workers with an environment safe from cyber threats. According to Sophos’s 2022 cyber threat reportOpens a new window , cyber criminals exploit commercial remote management and remote access tools such as VPNs that enterprises use to help remote employees gain authorized internal access.

As per a Deloitte reportOpens a new window , nearly half of all remote employees are victims of phishing scams, with data breaches costing companies more than $100,000 on average. Further, companies can be adversely affected by threats such as hacktivists, employees with malicious intent, and experienced cybercriminals exploiting vulnerabilities in this changing environment.

One can only counter the lack of preparedness for the surge in cyberattacks with substantial efforts toward cybersecurity awareness. Companies were wary of remote working in terms of access to confidential data before the pandemic. However, despite the changes arising from the crisis, security has not been a major priority compared to expanding remote working facilities, as per Palo Alto’s Security 2021 reportOpens a new window

Investments in cybersecurity awareness programs, malware protection, regular security reviews, home network security combined with risk management, zero-trust approaches, and tools such as host checking can help maintain security standards.

Supply Chain Challenges

Most businesses have been affected by supply chain disruptions during and following the pandemic. Companies are being forced to be frugal with purchases. As a result, making trial purchases of cloud solutions has lost favor. Furthermore, most small and mid-sized companies do not have the expertise in the workforce to keep up with industry changes.

The problem of global chip shortage has also contributed to data storage scarcity. Companies reluctant to move to the cloud will seek alternative on-premise storage options.

See More: Cloud vs. On-Premise Comparison: Key Differences and Similarities

Innovation in Services Provide Key Opportunities

On the one hand, conventional on-premise storage restricts operationality and increases expenses. On the other hand, cloud storage has data ownership, control, and security issues, owing to the influence of heavyweight cloud service providers. Alternatives have been gaining prominence with businesses seeking to keep up with storage capacity.

Hybrid blockchain storage

Hybrid storage uses blockchain technology in on-premise settings to provide a cloud-like distributed data storage solution. With blockchain, the system uses distributed ledger attributes to minimize latency and decentralize data storage for global requirements. This is because enterprises can access data from the node physically closest to them, improving retrieval speed and minimizing redundancy.

Also, security is strong using blockchain solutions because the data is distributed across nodes and is maintained in a fragmented manner. This solution will also provide complete traceability of data transactions, aiding accountability for everyone involved in managing and using the storage system. BigchainDB, Veritas, BlockchainDB, and Amazon Quantum Ledger Database are some of the leading hybrid blockchain storage solution providers.

On-premise-as-a-service creates opportunities

Despite the pandemic, companies continue to rely on on-premise solutions because of compliance, security or technical requirements. This is especially true with organizations that require more control over their data—for example, government bodies and security agencies.

In cases where the public cloud is not suitable, companies often want to monitor the performance of their networks, with servers set in precise locations. They also require access to several service providers, which is impossible with pure cloud storage.

Many service providers are now offering customizable on-premise storage-as-a-service solutions to businesses to meet their specific requirements. In this approach, all of the hardware is owned and provided by the service provider. Client enterprises consequently need not worry much about escalating capital expenditures. 

Furthermore, as processes such as installation, networking, and maintenance of the data center are the service provider’s responsibility, scaling the storage is easy for end users. This data storage model will likely see notable adoption in the near future.

Object storage makes inroads

Object storage is a relatively new concept. Primarily used for unstructured data, it minimizes the problems of scalability linked to conventional storage options. This format features compatibility with S3 API, superior sequential throughput, more data security options, highly scalable architecture, and customizable metadata.

Scality’s RING and Hitachi’s Content Content Platform are some of the more popular object on-prem storage solutions. They provide benefits in terms of pricing, licensing, performance management, and deployment capabilities.

For instance, RING provides hybrid storage compatible with Google and Azure platforms, replication, an intelligent data lifecycle, and metadata management, and integrates data management through its open-source Zenko platform.

Hitachi Content Platform can easily integrate with a business’ active directory and distributed file system for easy access through the Common Internet File System. It also provides superior data compression and deduplication capabilities. The hybrid nature of these data storage products allows for easy transition between cloud and on-prem data management needs.

See More: Why Object Storage Is Key in the Cloud Operating Model

Cloud storage woes are a boon for on-premise solutions

While cloud storage has many advantages over traditional on-premise options, companies must address some significant challenges. For instance, companies need to know where their data is located physically. This is especially true when it comes to international operations. This is because local privacy and security laws will play a key role in data storage. Furthermore, data encryption in databases and during transit is more accessible through on-premise solutions.

In addition, companies continue to struggle with acquiring and retaining adequate human resources with cloud computing skills. Consequently, the push to migrate to cloud storage is often fraught with vulnerabilities. The lack of such engineers will force companies to stick with on-premise storage solutions. As the pandemic ends, on-premise storage gains a fresh lease of life.

The covid-19 crisis enabled cloud storage adoption for accessing data remotely. During these trying times, developers marketed cloud solutions as being better than on-premise infrastructure. However, large and mid-sized companies must review their strategy for the future for business continuity and risk mitigation.

Intelligent data backup could gain traction

Considering the exponential increase in business data, including IoT and machine learning sources, intelligent tools for data storage are becoming critical to maintaining efficient backups to meet frequent and continuous environmental changes.

If a company is very dependent on data analysis, substantial risk arises when data is not backed up correctly or if recovery processes are complex. Legal, reputational, and operational ramifications could be severe. Cutting-edge, automated data storage tools that rely on artificial intelligence and machine learningOpens a new window can generate substantial savings in terms of time and resources spent on manual data backups.

As we look towards 2023, companies will likely seek storage solutions based on how often storage is accessed, their location, and resiliency. Subscription pricing models will gain ground. Although cloud storage will likely retain a significant market share, on-prem options will continue to find their fair share of users in the foreseeable future.

Do you think businesses are likely to continue investing in on-premise data storage infrastructure? Share your thoughts with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . We’d love to know!

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Anuj Mudaliar
Anuj Mudaliar is a content development professional with a keen interest in emerging technologies, particularly advances in AI. As a tech editor for Spiceworks, Anuj covers many topics, including cloud, cybersecurity, emerging tech innovation, AI, and hardware. When not at work, he spends his time outdoors - trekking, camping, and stargazing. He is also interested in cooking and experiencing cuisine from around the world.
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