Learn how digital enterprises are overcoming the limits of traditional enterprise file storage with a hybrid cloud file system. This TECHBLITZ article has been translated to English from the original published earlier this month for the Japanese market.
Everywhere, enterprises are moving quickly to digital business models to accommodate hybrid work environments influenced by the pandemic. This, in turn, is driving rapid growth for Qumulo, a breakthrough leader in hybrid cloud file storage. Its hybrid cloud file system includes a data analytics dashboard that enables administrators to visually monitor data usage and access in real time and glean valuable insight into future trends.
The Qumulo File Data Platform is a large-scale distributed cloud file system used by some of the leading media and entertainment companies that handle massive unstructured data such as images, audio, and video. It has also been adopted in file data-intensive fields such as autonomous vehicle manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, life sciences research, healthcare, and academia.
Techblitz asked CEO Bill Richter how Qumulo’s business strategy and platform differs from those of traditional enterprise file storage providers.
Enterprise hybrid storage that optimizes data management with actionable insights
The unstructured data managed by Qumulo’s file system software is different from data organized in relational databases. Typically, unstructured data includes large and small files used in high-performance workflows at petabyte scale. This data includes the video, image, and audio files used in the media and entertainment, blueprints for automobiles and semiconductor chips in manufacturing, and genomic sequencing in biotechnology.
Qumulo makes it possible for enterprises to store and manage massive quantities of unstructured data on a central file data management platform. The cloud-native software not only stores and manages data but also provides a visual means to analyze it in real time to optimize workloads running both on-premises and in the cloud.
Qumulo was founded in 2012 but has grown tenfold since 2017 when Bill Richter became CEO. Before that, he was at EMC, a storage company acquired by Dell Technologies. Industry-savvy Richter has been in the technology industry for 25 years. He describes the challenges customers face when it comes to data storage.
According to Richter, “It is a major premise that cloud storage guarantees a huge data scale of 10 petabytes, but that alone is not enough to solve customers’ problems. In industries where huge amounts of unstructured data are generated, the lack of infrastructure is hampering business progress, so our software platform provides a wealth of data analysis and insights. Our cloud-based file data management and storage solution enables customers to break through infrastructure limits and that contributes greatly to the development of the business.”
Qumulo’s centralized file system manages large volumes of data for high-density workloads
Qumulo’s business model is software-centric and takes a different stance than competitors selling storage hardware. In addition to ensuring high-density workloads at petabyte scale, it also helps administrators optimize performance through data management and analytics. Qumulo provides enterprises with one file data platform that centralizes all their file data for workloads running on premises and in the cloud, simplifying cloud migration.
“When customers add capacity, they can simultaneously improve performance, throughput, and latency, which is a big difference from existing storage solutions that slow down the system as the dataset grows,” said Richter. “We focus on running software in the cloud to scale performance and capacity with intelligent cloud monitoring that helps our customers understand and analyze data in real time.”
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Qumulo has many customers in media and entertainment–another industry whose business model — post production studios in particular — had to change quickly to support remote video editing due to ongoing demand and increased consumption of streaming services during the pandemic.
“We also offer Qumulo Studio Q on AWS., a post-production environment that allows creative teams to edit videos on the cloud using software technology. It features Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects for video editing through AWS cloud resources and integrates with Teradici for low latency,” Richter said. “Since Studio Q is provided as a service on the cloud, it is possible for creative teams to collaborate from anywhere, without going to a workstation in the studio for video production. This capability greatly changes the way video editing and production works today.”
Qumulo has grown tenfold since 2017 and continues to expand with global customers adopting its hybrid could file system
Since 2020, globally, many more people are now working or studying at home, consuming a lot of data and content. The global pandemic is accelerating companies’ digital transformations and their need to migrate unstructured data to the cloud. Partly because of this, Qumulo has more than 600 customers in major regions of the world. Currently, it has the largest number of customers in North America, followed by more than 100 in Europe and about 30 customers in Asia.
Full-scale global expansion into the Asia-Pacific region began in April and sales are progressing rapidly with HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) — a strong global partner for Qumulo. Qumulo’s software is also available as a service on AWS and on Microsoft Azure. Investor confidence resulted in a successful Series E funding of $125 million on June 16, 2020. “We would like to set up a branch office in Japan this fall and actively hire in the country as well,” Richter said. In Japan, Richter plans to introduce Qumulo to automobile manufacturers, life sciences and research organizations, educational institutions, and the media and entertainment companies.
Qumulo’s corporate headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington. The company employs over 450 people with more than half of them located all over the world and it is growing fast, tenfold in the past 4 years.
“In the future, valuable insights from unstructured data will be central to human progress,” Richter explained. “Massive data management will bring new treatments to healthcare, automate manufacturing design, and much more. We’re passionate with a solution that helps our customers around the world unleash the power of unstructured data.”
Learn more
Qumulo Named a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for 3 Years in a Row
Qumulo Expands its Global Presence in APAC and its Partnership with HPE
Major M&E Studios and Networks Drive Unprecedented Increase in File Data
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