Report:
Magic Quadrant for File and Object Storage Platforms
How does Gartner define the File and Object Storage Platforms market in 2024?
Gartner defines file and object storage platforms as software and/or hardware platforms that offer object and distributed file system technologies for storing and managing unstructured data over NFS, SMB and Amazon S3 access protocols. File and object storage platforms store, secure, protect and scale an organization's unstructured data with access over the network using protocols such as NFS, SMB and Amazon S3. Use cases include analytics, workload consolidation, backup and archiving, hybrid cloud, object-native applications, cloud IT operations, and high-performance files.
Key Facts for Magic Quadrant for File and Object Storage Platforms in 2024
- Publication Date: 8 October 2024
- Document ID: G00805183
- Coverage: Global
- Authors: Chandra Mukhyala, Julia Palmer
- Core Purpose: Market demand for a single platform supporting both file and object storage workloads has led to significant changes in the vendor landscape in this Magic Quadrant. I&O leaders can use this research to shortlist vendors for unstructured data storage.
Strategic Planning Assumptions
- By 2029, over 80% of unstructured data will be deployed on a consolidated storage platform instead of separate file and object products, up from 40% in early 2024
- By 2029, 60% of I&O leaders will implement edge caching appliances that support global access of unstructured data from a single repository on-premises or in the cloud, up from 15% in 2024
- By 2029, 100% of storage products will include cyberstorage capabilities focused on active defense beyond recovery from cyber events, up from 20% in early 2024
How was the File and Object Storage Platforms market evolved in 2024?
- The market for unstructured data has been converging from separate file and object products to a single platform supporting all unstructured data workloads
- In 2024, more vendors support a single platform as opposed to separate products
- The shift from product to platform includes integrated capabilities for cyber resilience, global namespace and file systems, and storage as a service
- Top priorities for I&O leaders include single platform for all workloads, hybrid cloud support, cyberattack detection, STaaS capabilities, and data management
- Edge caching and global namespace capabilities enable reading/writing data files from any location to centralized storage
- AI and GenAI readiness through ISV integrations, NVIDIA certification, and performance capabilities is increasingly important
- Platform efficiency in performance, space and power translates to improved sustainability
- Software-defined storage allows vendors to offer the same storage anywhere - on-premises, edge locations or public cloud
What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?
- A POSIX file system, a flat namespace or a key-value store
- Distributed architecture to scale the data store across multiple servers/nodes to linearly scale performance and capacity with each new node
- Data and metadata that are distributed over multiple nodes in the cluster to handle availability and data protection in a self-healing manner
- Distributed file system that presents a single namespace from capacity pooled across multiple storage nodes based on shared-nothing or shared-everything architectural principles
- Throughput and elastic capacity scaled nondisruptively with the addition or subtraction of each new node to the cluster
- Data access over NFS, SMB and Amazon S3 protocols
- Erasure coding or other forms of RAID to protect data from disk or node failures
- Snapshot and replication capabilities to protect from data loss
What are the common features of top products in the File and Object Storage Platforms space?
- Support for a global namespace that can span across storage in multiple geographic locations at the edge, in on-premises data centers and on public cloud platforms
- Deduplication and compression capabilities for storage efficiency
- Data management services to create metadata classification enabling cost optimization, governance, mobility, analytics and security
- Cyber resilience or cyberstorage active technologies to identify, protect, detect, respond and recover from ransomware attacks on unstructured data storage solutions
- Ability to support hybrid cloud use cases such as burst for computing, burst for Capacity, global data orchestration and storage standardization
- Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) capabilities that leverage AI and machine learning. These capabilities enable prescriptive health management, improved customer support, and support of proactive capacity management, nondisruptive workload simulation, placement and migration/tiering, and performance optimization
- Storage-as-a-service (STaaS) models with multiple performance tiers for both file and object storage services
Scope Exclusions
- Platforms not designed for primarily on-premises workloads
- Pass-through solutions where data is permanently stored elsewhere
- Vendors that do not own storage software intellectual property
- Vendors relying on third-party software for filesystem, object store or key-value store
- Platforms that cannot be purchased as stand-alone file and/or object service
- Platforms bundled with compute and hypervisor as integrated, converged or hyperconverged systems
Inclusion Criteria
Vendors must, among other requirements:
- Revenue above $75 million of recognized platform revenue between 15 June 2023 and 15 June 2024
- At least 150 active production customers, each consuming more than 500TB raw capacity
- Production use in at least three out of four major geographies with 25 customers of at least 500TB each in each geography
- Deployed across at least five out of seven use cases
- Platform designed for primarily on-premises workloads
- Vendor must own the storage software intellectual property
- Platform must support NFS, SMB and S3 access protocols natively
- Fully distributed architecture with data and metadata distributed across multiple nodes
- Single file system capable of expanding beyond 500TB
- Global namespace capable of 2PB expansion
- Cluster must span more than four nodes
Ability to Execute — Relative Weighting
- Product or Service - High
- Overall Viability - High
- Sales Execution/Pricing - Medium
- Market Responsiveness/Record - High
- Marketing Execution - Low
- Customer Experience - High
- Operations - Low
Completeness of Vision — Relative Weighting
- Market Understanding - High
- Marketing Strategy - Medium
- Sales Strategy - High
- Offering (Product) Strategy - High
- Business Model - Medium
- Vertical/Industry Strategy - Medium
- Innovation - High
- Geographic Strategy - Medium
FAQs
Q: What does this research cover?
A: This research covers file and object storage platforms - software and/or hardware platforms that offer object and distributed file system technologies for storing and managing unstructured data over NFS, SMB and Amazon S3 access protocols. It evaluates 13 vendors across multiple criteria including their ability to execute and completeness of vision. The research addresses use cases including analytics, workload consolidation, backup and archiving, hybrid cloud, object-native applications, cloud IT operations, and high-performance files.
Q: Who should use this research?
A: I&O leaders responsible for purchasing and operating infrastructure for unstructured data storage should use this research to shortlist vendors based on their specific requirements. The research helps organizations evaluate vendors for key capabilities including single platform support, hybrid cloud capabilities, cyberattack detection, storage-as-a-service models, data management features, edge caching, AI readiness, and platform efficiency. It is particularly useful for organizations consolidating file and object storage workloads onto a single platform.
Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?
A: Mandatory features include: a POSIX file system, flat namespace or key-value store; distributed architecture for linear scaling; distributed data and metadata across nodes for self-healing; single namespace from pooled capacity; nondisruptive scaling; data access over NFS, SMB and S3 protocols; erasure coding or RAID for data protection; and snapshot and replication capabilities for data loss protection.
Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?
A:
- Revenue below $75 million for the platform
- Fewer than 150 production customers with 500TB+ capacity
- Insufficient geographic presence (less than 3 of 4 major regions)
- Platform not supporting at least 5 of 7 use cases
- Not designed for on-premises workloads
- Lack of ownership of storage software intellectual property
- Reliance on third-party software for core storage functions
- Only available as part of converged/hyperconverged bundles
- Missing native support for NFS, SMB and S3 protocols
- Not meeting the single platform criteria for both file and object workloads
Q: What differentiates Ability to Execute vs. Completeness of Vision?
A: Ability to Execute reflects market conditions and analyzes vendor capabilities across broad business functions, focusing on processes, systems, methods and procedures that enable competitive, efficient and effective performance. It is largely based on Gartner's analysis and market feedback. Completeness of Vision distills a vendor's view of the future, market direction and their role in shaping the market. It is based on direct vendor interactions and Gartner's analysis of the vendor's view of the future, emphasizing their vision for market evolution and their strategic positioning.
Reference
- Gartner, Magic Quadrant for File and Object Storage Platforms, 8 October 2024, ID G00805183
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