IBM Storage Systems Research Envisions the Future

Posted by David Hill
September 14, 2011

What is the future of storage and storage management? While all crystal balls are partly cloudy at best, one of the best bets would seem to be in IBM’s vision. When you are investing huge sums each year in storage research, the focus is on inventing the future rather than predicting it. The cloudiness in the crystal ball comes from a necessary degree of uncertainty in terms of whether technical hurdles can be overcome. Whether particular technologies make the grade or not--and, if so, when--is uncertain. However, the company’s general direction seems clear, and there are many important and exciting changes ahead. Let’s take a look at some of the developments that IBM Storage Systems Research is working on to bring about the future of storage.

IBM Storage Systems Research is part of the company’s overall annual R&D investment of $6 billion. IBM research organizations work within the company itself but also participate in the scientific/technical community, with academia and government, and with clients and alliances. IBM has a long-term history of world-class research spanning many IT eras across a wide range of technical disciplines. The company has been the U.S. patent leader for 18 consecutive years.

As part of IBM Research, the challenge for Storage Systems Research is to deliver the innovation required to deal with the continuing huge explosion of data that shows no sign of slowing down while storage budgets are likely to remain relatively flat. To close the huge gap between what enterprises will demand and what they can afford, IBM Storage Systems Research is focusing its attention on a key set of initiatives: solid-state information systems, storage for clouds, archive systems, scale-out file systems, autonomic storage management and advanced storage controllers.

That is an impressive list of initiatives in itself, but we need to understand how innovation at a large IT vendor, such as IBM, differs from innovation at smaller or startup firms. The IT industry needs both, but startups typically target one product aimed at existing or emerging commercial markets with delivery slated within a few years, plus or minus. This tight focus is due to capital funding tending to be tight.

Contrast those conditions with that of a well-funded vendor like IBM. Obviously, IBM Storage Systems Research does not have unlimited funds and they have to justify its use of capital for projects. However, the company can prioritize over many projects and allocate funding as appropriate without worrying about capital starvation. (Although, at least some project managers at IBM are likely to feel that they didn’t get enough.) IBM also has the freedom to focus on long-term projects. IBM Storage Systems Research invests 40% of its budget on exploratory projects and technology not in any commercial product plan but that would meet unmet significant future customer needs as long as five to 10 years out. Obviously, startups cannot do that yet. These are the sorts of efforts that deliver significant breakthroughs that can change the face of the industry.

The other difference is in what risk means to startups in contrast to IBM. Since innovation requires coming up with something new, all innovation involves real risk.

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