Storage to strategy: Everpure pivots to data intelligence

Everpure is repositioning itself as an enterprise data cloud company, unveiling a new software layer designed to help organisations understand, govern and prepare their data for AI workloads while creating new consulting opportunities for channel partners.

The company formally announced the pivot at its Accelerate Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, marking what executives describe as one of the most significant shifts in Everpure's evolution from a traditional storage vendor to a broader enterprise data platform provider.

At the centre of the announcement is Pure Data Intelligence, a new knowledge layer designed to help customers classify, govern and manage data spread across cloud, on-premises and third-party environments.

Vice President of Partners, Distribution and Alliances for APJ at Everpure, Andrew Fisher, said the move reflects a broader industry transition from infrastructure-centric IT to data-centric operations driven by artificial intelligence.

"To be moving effectively away from being a storage company into an enterprise data intelligence business is an incredible move for our organisation, but also for our partners," Fisher said.

The launch expands the firm's existing Enterprise Data Cloud vision, which aims to give customers a unified way to manage data regardless of where it resides. Everpure is building the strategy around three pillars: comprehensive data management, a unified data plane and an intelligent control plane.

One of the most significant additions is Pure Data Intelligence, which stems partly from acquisitions made by the company over the past year.

Historically, storage platforms have provided visibility into infrastructure performance and utilisation, but organisations often lacked a clear understanding of the data itself. 

The new platform is intended to add a semantic layer capable of identifying what data exists, where it resides, how it should be governed and whether it is suitable for AI applications.

The announcement comes as enterprises grapple with growing volumes of information, increasing regulatory scrutiny and rising concerns around data sovereignty.

Many organisations have accumulated large amounts of siloed data across applications, clouds and on-premises systems over several decades of digital transformation. 

While that approach was manageable in an application-centric world, it presents challenges for AI initiatives that depend on rapid access to accurate and well-governed information.

Businesses are now seeking to turn experimental AI projects into production deployments and are discovering that fragmented data environments have become a major obstacle.

To unlock the value of AI investments, organisations must first unlock the value of their data.

The ability to discover, classify and govern data across multiple environments will become increasingly important as organisations deploy AI agents and automated workflows that rely on information spread across different systems.

The strategy also includes enhancements to Everpure's unified data management capabilities through updates to Pure1, Pure Fusion and Azure-native services, alongside new automation features within what the company describes as an intelligent control plane.

For customers, the goal is to simplify the management of increasingly complex data estates. For partners, however, the opportunity may be even greater.

Unlike many technology vendors, Everpure operates through a channel-only model and does not sell directly to end customers. The company views partners as a critical source of consulting, implementation and managed services expertise.

Its new data intelligence platform could create significant professional services opportunities at a time when organisations are under pressure to optimise infrastructure spending.

Data management has moved beyond a technical housekeeping exercise and become a business imperative, driven by escalating infrastructure costs, compliance requirements and growing concerns around data sovereignty.

Many organisations can no longer afford to leave data unmanaged or duplicated across multiple systems. 

Understanding what data exists, where it is stored and whether it belongs in a particular environment could help businesses reduce infrastructure costs and improve operational efficiency.

Partners will be enabled to build advisory and consulting offerings around the platform, helping customers assess their data estates, identify governance risks and determine whether information is stored in the most appropriate location.

The opportunity could be a services goldmine for partners, as the technology enables them to engage with customers at a higher strategic level, rather than focusing solely on infrastructure refresh projects.

As an example, one large ANZ systems integrator immediately sought to involve its consulting leadership team rather than infrastructure specialists after reviewing the platform's capabilities.

That response reflects a broader shift occurring within enterprise technology purchasing decisions.

While cybersecurity has traditionally dominated executive-level IT discussions, data governance, AI readiness, supply chain resilience and data sovereignty are increasingly becoming boardroom priorities.

Recent research commissioned by Everpure into data sovereignty with University of Technology Sydney highlighted growing concern among organisations about where data resides and how it is governed.

"Data sovereignty is a huge issue," Fisher said.

"Of course, that's not just about understanding where your data is, it's also understanding what that data is and where you've classified it from a security perspective and from a compliance perspective. 

"All these things are issues we would normally have probably left our partners and our customers to solve for themselves. We're now saying we are on board with that, and we're going to help you with it."

Everpure continues to gain market share from traditional competitors and expects the addition of data intelligence capabilities to accelerate that trend.

Instead of focusing solely on where data is stored, the firm wants to help customers understand the value, risks and business implications associated with that data.

Its vision is to provide a single logical view of information regardless of whether it resides on-premises, in the cloud or across multiple providers. 

The platform is designed to tell organisations what data they have, how important it is, what risks it presents and whether it is being stored in the most effective location.

As enterprises move from experimentation to operational AI deployments, Everpure is betting that data visibility and governance will become just as important as the infrastructure that houses the information.