In 2009, John Colgrove and John Hayes, under the code name Os76 Inc., established a company in the offices of the venture capital firm Sutter Hill Ventures. The company was developing software for storage containers; the team looked at the world differently. It emerged from stealth as Pure Storage in 2010 and launched its product in 2011.
From its modest beginnings with generic flash storage hardware, Pure Storage has been a relentless force of innovation. In 2015, it unveiled its game-changing proprietary flash storage hardware, a testament to its commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
Today, Pure Storage is renowned for its all-flash storage arrays, a product of its DirectFlash modules that communicate with raw NAND flash chips. This technology enhances flash operations and optimises environmental heating and power usage.
The team plans to significantly expand its presence in the MENA region by introducing advanced storage solutions to new markets and sectors.
It doesn’t stop there; the company aims to become ‘the Netflix of storage.’ In a conversation with edge/ Ajay Singh, Pure Storage’s Chief Product Officer discussed the company’s product journey and roadmaps.
VMWare to Pure Storage
The CPO of Pure Storage from 2021, Singh’s journey has spanned significant shifts in methodologies and technologies, from VMware to Pure Storage. At VMware, he was part of a pivotal shift in how products were developed and released.
“We transitioned from a traditional model, where products were updated every 18 to 24 months, to a more dynamic cloud operating model. This change was about increasing the frequency of releases and embedding agility and responsiveness into the fabric of our development process,” added Singh.
He has built on these experiences at Pure Storage to push the envelope further. He explains they have adopted a monthly release cycle for their products like FlashArray, which requires high coordination and precision in development. The focus on top-tier engineering talent supports this rapid cycle.
“We recognise that the productivity of highly skilled engineers is not linear; it’s exponential. Hence, we prioritise hiring exceptional talent, which has been crucial in maintaining our innovation pace and product quality,” added Singh.
He said the founders built the first product, FlashArray, with the vision of going completely flash and eliminating hard disks.
Starting as the iPhone of storage
“He was building the iPhone of storage. He would take the array to his seven-year-old son and have him install the product. The idea was to keep it simple; the product needed work if a seven-year-old couldn’t install it. The manual was the front and back of a business card,” added Singh.
A relentless focus on innovation and customer-centric design has characterised Pure Storage’s journey.
Focusing on pure flash
“Starting with our flagship product, the FlashArray, we aimed to disrupt the market with a product that was not only high-performing but also incredibly simple to use. This simplicity was achieved through intuitive design and a focus on user experience, which allowed us to simplify the deployment and management of enterprise storage dramatically,” added Singh.
Also, since the product was always developed and conceptualised as all-flash, Pure Storage Flash Arrays tend to be four times more reliable than other arrays.
The product line has expanded to include solutions like FlashBlade, which addresses high-throughput and high-capacity needs for modern applications such as AI and machine learning, big data analytics, and digital content creation.
These products share a common architectural platform, Pure1, which unifies the offerings and provides a seamless user experience across multiple deployments, whether on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid.
“The evolution of our products reflects a deep commitment to simplicity, efficiency, and innovation. Each generation of products builds on the last, incorporating new technologies and feedback from our users to continuously improve and meet the market’s ever-changing needs,” added Singh.
Adding the layer of sustainability
When Flash hit the market, the Pure Storage team realised that while the consumer was looking to move away from the hard disk, the proprietary API was challenging. All the software was rendered for disk, which would make it harder.
“We went back to the drawing board and created an SSD that could work with the disk and talked all flash,” said Singh. The SSD has a gigabyte of DRAM to run this complex translation software for a terabyte of flash.
But it also consumes a lot of power. The engineers returned to the drawing board to work directly with the NAND Chips. “We talk directly to Flash. For a terabyte of flash, we only have a megabyte of data, which is 1000 times less DRAM than an SSD,” added Singh.
Taking a bird’ s-eye view of Pure Storage’s project journey, he explained that one of the most significant and transformative shifts in recent times has been Pure Storage’s embrace of a cloud operating model.
This bold move departs from the more traditional data management and application deployment models, demonstrating the company’s adaptability and forward-thinking approach.
“This model redefines the cloud not as a destination but as a method—a way to operate whether the infrastructure is on-premise, in a public cloud, or a hybrid of both. This holistic approach to cloud computing includes embracing continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) methodologies, which streamline the development process to allow for frequent updates and immediate responsiveness to issues,” explained Singh.
In practical terms, CI/CD integrates automated testing and deployment into the development process, reducing the need for lengthy manual testing phases and speeding up release cycles.
Developers commit changes to a shared repository, where automated processes handle the testing and preparation for release, often several times within a single day.
Agile project management methodologies complement this by breaking development into smaller, more manageable phases, allowing teams to adapt quickly to changing requirements or feedback.
Integrating AI in R&D
“Integrating agile methodologies into product management allows us to prioritise tasks more efficiently, ensuring that each development cycle produces usable, valuable output. For instance, in our ‘Pure Navigators’ programme, we engage selected customers and staff in the development process, collecting their feedback to adjust our product in real-time. This continuous feedback loop and development helps us refine our offerings more precisely to meet our users’ needs,” added Singh.
Today, an artificial intelligence layer is being added to the R&D process. AI’s integration into the development processes has been profoundly impactful, particularly in automating and optimising tasks that traditionally required significant human effort.
“For instance, tools like GitHub Copilot use machine learning algorithms to provide code suggestions, automate documentation, and streamline coding practices. This tool is almost a pair programmer, offering real-time advice and corrections that improve code quality and accelerate development timelines,” added Singh.
More advanced AI implementations involve security enhancements, where AI tools continuously analyse code for potential vulnerabilities, offering fixes and improvements instantaneously. This proactive security measure is crucial in maintaining the integrity and safety of software in an era where cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated.
Moreover, AI’s role extends to optimising software architecture itself. By inputting architectural designs into machine learning models, we can predict potential fail points and receive suggestions for improvement before development begins.
This predictive capability allows for developing more robust software by addressing potential issues during the design phase, significantly reducing downtime and maintenance post-deployment.
Focus on innovation
Today, Singh added, there is still room for growth and improvement in flash. He added that it is at its third generation, driven by consumer flash with laptops, tablets, etc.
“Our approach to innovation is deeply rooted in the principle of simplicity. The most powerful solutions are also the simplest. This philosophy drives our product design, where we aim to hide complexity behind easy-to-use interfaces and automated processes. For instance, our DirectFlash technology simplifies data management by eliminating traditional storage management layers, reducing latency, and increasing efficiency,” added Singh.
Maintaining product simplicity involves continuous feedback, testing, and refinement. The team engages with customers through programmes like Pure Navigators, where direct user feedback influences product development. This hands-on feedback loop ensures that our innovations align with practical user needs and minimise complexity.
“Innovation at Pure Storage is not just about adding features; it’s about enhancing the user experience and delivering tangible benefits to our customers. This customer-focused approach ensures that our products incorporate cutting-edge technologies and are accessible and valuable to businesses of all sizes. We are a disruptor in the storage space, we want to be the Netflix of storage,” said Singh.
