New Pure Storage Survey Underscores Importance of IT Modernization to Support New Tech Initiatives

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 9, 2023 — Pure Storage, an IT pioneer that delivers the world’s most advanced data storage technology and services, in partnership with Wakefield Research, released a new report identifying the obstacles organizations across industries face in today’s digital economy while on the path to modernization, and the investment priorities they are focused on to support business growth.

The new report, “IT Leader Insights: The State of IT Modernization Priorities and Challenges Amid Economic Headwinds,” reveals the need to evolve from legacy infrastructure in order to reap the full benefits of emerging technologies investments.

Shawn Rosemarin, Pure Storage’s VP for R&D and Customer Engineering, commented: “Investments in emerging technology such as AI and Machine Learning are exciting ventures for organizations interested in gaining a competitive edge, but without a modern IT infrastructure foundation the long-term success of these investments is at critical risk. The findings in our report show how agile IT leadership will need to continue to challenge legacy infrastructure solutions in order to simplify their core structure, in turn driving significant efficiency and flexibility to fuel their future.”

Survey Highlights

The survey, fielded among 500 IT buyers at companies of 500+ employers across the U.S. and Europe, found that:

• More Than Half of IT Buyers are Prioritizing AI/Machine Learning and Sustainability Technology Investments: IT buyers have cited that their top investments planned for the next five years are AI/machine learning (52%) and sustainable technology (51%). While less than half (46%) predict they’ll invest in infrastructure automation or orchestration.
• Nine in 10 IT Buyers Admit to Buying Tech Their Infrastructure Could Not Support: An overwhelming 90% of IT buyers stated that the pressure of their digital transformation agenda led them to buy technology their infrastructure could not support—and 74% say this resulted in being unable to deploy new technology to leadership’s full expectations.
• IT Buyers Continue to Feel Pressured to Invest in New Technologies: More than 3 in 5 IT buyers (62%) feel pressured all the time or often to make decisions on purchasing technology based on current needs without fully exploring the consequences of these decisions in the longer term. Seventy-six percent expect increased scrutiny on purchasing decisions over the next five years.
• Nearly All IT Buyers Plan to Modernize IT Infrastructure to Drive Meaningful Outcomes: Nearly all survey respondents (99%) plan to modernize their IT infrastructure to better support future technology investments over the next five years, of which 73% are planning significant upgrades. The top areas of IT infrastructure in need of updates to better support adopting new technology include network and security (58%), data management or storage (52%) and data center facilities (50%).

Industry Significance

Digital transformation has accelerated at lightning speed, bringing an unprecedented need for IT modernization. In the face of economic headwinds, IT teams are still focused on operationalizing and supporting new digital initiatives, but with the added pressure of tighter budgets and lower staffing levels.

Amidst current inflation and recessionary concerns, IT teams must strike a complex balance between supporting critical IT services for their organization and setting up a foundation on which future initiatives can thrive. With thoughtful investments, organizations can keep vital systems running efficiently while accelerating their ability to keep pace with digital transformation.

Read the full IT Leader Insights: The State of IT Modernization Priorities and Challenges Amid Economic Headwinds report and methodology.

Register for Pure//Accelerate 2023 in Las Vegas June 14-16, 2023 to make connections, get inspired, and learn more about tools and strategies to implement sustainable change, energy efficiency, and operational excellence within your organization. Pure Storage executives and world-leading experts – including Pure Storage CEO Charles Giancarlo and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal – will share insights, strategies, and their vision for the future.

About Pure Storage

Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) uncomplicates data storage, forever. Pure delivers a cloud experience that empowers every organization to get the most from their data while reducing the complexity and expense of managing the infrastructure behind it. Pure’s commitment to providing true storage as-a-service gives customers the agility to meet changing data needs at speed and scale, whether they are deploying traditional workloads, modern applications, containers, or more. Pure believes it can make a significant impact in reducing data center emissions worldwide through its environmental sustainability efforts, including designing products and solutions that enable customers to reduce their carbon and energy footprint. And with the highest Net Promoter Score in the industry, Pure’s ever-expanding list of customers are among the happiest in the world.

Source: Pure Storage