Analyst outfit GigaOm has rated primary (block) storage suppliers in three groups – small, medium and large enterprises – with Hitachi Vantara leading for large enterprises, and NetApp and Pure leading the pack for mid-sized and small enterprises.
A Radar report evaluates suppliers’ products against a set of key criteria and their impact on evaluation metrics to produce a Radar graphic — a forward-looking perspective on all the vendors in the report, based on their products’ technical capabilities and feature sets.
It’s divided into concentric Leader, Challenger and New Entrant circles modified by by two orthogonal axes, Maturity vs Innovation and Feature Play vs Platform Play, providing four quadrants overlaying the circles. Suppliers are also rated on their speed of movement across the chart.
The small business Radar diagram places DataCore, DDN, HPE, IBM, iXsystems and StorOne in the Challengers’ area with iXsystems the most mature and DataCore, DDN and StorOne scoring highest on innovation. Dell Technologies is classed as a leader, but only just, with NetApp ahead of Pure Storage in that category. All the suppliers are in or moving into the platform half of the diagram.
The mid-sized enterprise picture – see below – has more suppliers but NetApp and Pure lead and are the only vendors in the Leaders’s area. The Challengers’ area has suppliers in each of the four quadrants, differing from the mid-sized enterprise Radar, with StorPool and StorOne rated highly for Features and Maturity than Innovation and with a Platform focus.
Pavilion Data, Excelero and Lightbits Labs are each rated highly on Innovation and Features, with DDN highest in Innovation but weakest on Features as it is moving into the Platform area of the diagram. That half of the diagram positions DataCore, Dell Technologies, Hitachi Vantara, IBM, HPE and Infinidat as Challengers with a platform focus. The sole New Entrant is iXsystems with a high Maturity rating
The large enterprise Radar diagram – see below – is different again. Zadara is the sole New Entrant, down in the Feature Play-Innovation quarter circle. Pavilion Data and Excelero are in the same quarter circle but given Challenger status. HPE has the same status but is in the Maturity-Platform Play quarter circle. So too is Dell Technologies.
IBM, Infinidat, NetApp and Pure Storage are Leaders with IBM rated least innovative compared to the others. Hitachi Vantara is the highest-rated supplier in the Leaders’ area and also rated highest as a Platform Play. Infinidat is rated highest of this group on the Innovation measure.
These three reports are available to GigaOm subscribers.