Information technology (IT) is growing more complex every year. In fact, two out of three IT decision-makers surveyed say that their IT environment is more complex now than it was two years ago.^[1] Adding to traditional challenges such as greatly increasing data volumes and the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape, new drivers of IT complexity include ongoing digital transformation, a modern and always-on mobile workforce and expanding hybrid cloud architecture.

IT complexity is costly. Operational expenses rise, general data risks increase and maintenance occurs more often. Even vulnerability to cyber threats increases with added complexity.^[2] So the question becomes, how can we reduce IT complexity and bring down costs?

Last year IBM introduced the new IBM FlashSystem® family. This is a single platform for all non-mainframe environments designed to simplify your storage infrastructure while delivering extensive enterprise-class storage innovation, including seamless hybrid cloud and container integration. The ongoing challenges, costs and risks imposed by IT complexity underscore the importance of today’s IBM Storage announcements. New IBM offerings, technologies and programs buck the complexity trend. With these new offerings, your storage solutions can potentially become more compact, less costly than the IBM FlashSystem 5100, and yes — much simpler.

>> See storage made simple in our announcement webinar

The new IBM FlashSystem 5200^[3] offers a perfect example of storage made simple for all.

IBM FlashSystem 5200 is designed to accelerate a wide range of enterprise deployments for bare metal, virtualized, hybrid cloud or containerized configurations. It’s the most compact storage system we’ve ever made. FlashSystem 5200 is designed with enterprise-class capabilities, including end-to-end NVMe support, IBM FlashCore^® technology, storage-class memory and an extensive set of data services in our award-winning IBM Spectrum^® Virtualize software-defined storage.

>> Explore the new 5200

“With its new FlashSystem 5200, IBM has made a tremendous leap forward, packing impressive levels of performance and capacity into a 1U package. While capable enough for the data center, the form factor of the 5200 can offer transformational value for smaller organizations and edge locations.”  – Scott Sinclair, Senior Analyst, ESG

This new system is designed to provide the performance, cost efficiency and functionality for almost any workload in a compact unit that is ideal for any deployment. It combines latency of less than 70 microseconds for optimal application performance and as much as 1.7 PB of data in only 1 rack unit with data reduction options for reduced OPEX and CAPEX. It includes IBM HyperSwap^® high-availability technology and 3-site replication for enhanced business continuity. Say goodbye to your traditional hybrid storage systems and modernize your infrastructure.

“Our clients want simplicity,” states David Ficacci, Director of Technology at Micro Strategies. “Too many so-called solutions these days are really just collections of new headaches for our clients. IBM FlashSystem 5200 is different. It can consolidate the entire storage environment whether it’s edge or core data center to simplify management. Then it can start small and grow with the business. Nothing extra to order. One solution the size of a pizza box can handle our business needs, including seamless connectivity to hybrid cloud. This is the simplicity and versatility our clients want.”

IBM Storage has focused on more than inventing a new storage platform. Other IBM FlashSystem family members have also seen important enhancements. For example:

• New IBM FlashSystem 5015^[4] and IBM FlashSystem 5035^[5] use efficient IBM Distributed RAID 1, designed for improved performance with small configurations. FlashSystem 5035 is 22% faster than its predecessor.^[6]

• IBM Spectrum Virtualize software in IBM FlashSystem adds GUI support for 3-site and HyperSwap configurations, designed to be easier to deploy in high-availability configurations.
• IBM plans to deliver a version of IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud — our hybrid cloud data fabric software — optimized for Microsoft^® Azure^®. It is being designed to offer functionality for Microsoft Azure that is comparable to what we already offer on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM Cloud^® starting with a beta program with an anticipated release date of 3Q 2021.
• IBM Storage support for Ansible^®, the Red Hat^® open-source IT configuration management and automation platform, continues to be enhanced — including automation for HyperSwap for high-availability configurations for mission-critical workloads.
• IBM is simplifying support for IBM FlashSystem with a new IBM Storage Expert Care program, initially available with IBM FlashSystem 5200. It includes Base and Advanced support levels with transparent, predictable pricing and a choice of support duration.

“The University of Miami has deployed IBM storage through many product generations, including FlashSystem,” says Joel Zysman, Director of Advanced Computing Systems, UM Institute for Data Science and Computing. “One of the best things about this IBM storage platform is how well it evolves to meet our ever-changing business and technology demands. I can see that the new 5200 model can continue this trend. It is designed to be more cost-efficient, flexible, functional with simplified support options. We look forward to getting the newest generation into our hybrid cloud environment.”

Today, IBM also announces support of FlashSystem, SAN Volume Controller (SVC), Spectrum Virtualize, IBM Elastic Storage^® System (ESS) and IBM Spectrum Scale for IBM Cloud Satellite^®,7 currently in beta. This enables you to “bring your own infrastructure” to hybrid cloud environments. IBM Cloud Satellite is being designed to help enable you to launch consistent cloud services anywhere — across any cloud, on premises, and at the edge with speed and simplicity, delivered as a service from a single pane of glass, managed through the public cloud. The result can potentially include increased efficiency and simplicity. When deploying IBM Cloud Satellite on premises, IBM FlashSystem can be the ideal storage solution.

Today’s announcements span a broad range of solutions for your container, hybrid cloud and virtualized environments. But the message is simpler — literally. Through ongoing innovation and engineering commitment, IBM continues to reduce IT complexity and make storage simple for organizations of all sizes.

In addition, IBM Storage will donate up to $1M to COVID-19 relief. Proceeds will come from FlashSystem 5000 and 5200 sales. You are encouraged to use #IBMFlash4Good on social media to help promote our cause.

>> Don’t miss the announcement webinar.

>> To learn more, go to IBM Storage News.

>> Click here to explore more key advantages of the new IBM FlashSystem 5200.

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Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives only.