GigaOm Radar for Cloud-Native Kubernetes Data Storagev2.0

1. Summary

This report offers a comprehensive, practitioner-led analysis of the cloud-native Kubernetes storage sector. It expands upon the criteria identified in the accompanying Key Criteria for Cloud Native Kubernetes Data Storage report to provide deep, vendor-specific information that will accelerate and focus the IT procurement process.

The proliferation of containerized applications, and the increased developmental agility afforded by embracing them, creates a need for flexible, highly available storage solutions in order to support the persistence of data across an entire application. With the growth in decentralized working practices brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations already embracing cloud-native storage solutions were able to adapt faster than those still running on-prem or hybrid solutions.

In this report, the cloud-native Kubernetes storage market is charted in terms of vendors positioned along the dual axes of Innovation vs Maturity, and Feature Play vs Platform Play. The latter describes a vendor’s offering in terms of its focus on features that make a compelling case for customers to buy, or on broad functionality that addresses common consumer requirements. With the current landscape presented in this way, readers will be able to make informed decisions that lead to faster procurement and better results.

Beginning with a general overview of the purpose of the technology and the problems that it sets out to address, the report goes on to break down the market categories and deployment types identified in our research. This creates a useful filter for evaluating individual vendors by allowing the reader to shortlist the most appropriate vendors by the size of their operation and their preferred deployment model.

The raw data for our analysis is then assessed, with a vendor-by-vendor examination of product positioning, features, and trajectory. This information is broken down further into a digestible analysis of each vendor’s specific strengths and weaknesses. The aim is to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of why a particular solution might be right for their organization by allowing them to cut through the marketing and sales pitches to get to the core of what makes a product unique.

Read the full report to:

• Understand the difference between a pure SaaS and hybrid cloud deployment model, and the advantages of choosing each one.
• Discover why no vendor in this space can yet be regarded as having a “mature” offering.
• Identify the vendors that will continue to innovate rapidly and significantly over the medium to long term, and the vendors that are focusing instead on building comprehensive implementations of today’s technologies.
• Build an understanding of the difference in approach between products based on open source technologies and the proprietary alternatives that seek to provide more enterprise-grade feature sets.

Enrico Signoretti is a world-renowned expert on data storage, having tracked the field for many years in both an analyst capacity and through a 25-year career in technical product strategy and management. Max Mortillaro is a cloud, data protection, and data storage expert with experience working in multiple industry verticals. A practitioner first and foremost, Max is currently engaged in the deployment of new IT infrastructure in the heavily regulated pharmaceutical industry.