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Modernising Storage in the AI Era

This Executive Summary by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) explores how SMBs are evolving their storage infrastructure to meet the demands of the AI era. It provides data-driven insights into how AI, security, and hybrid cloud technologies are reshaping modern storage investments.

Topic
Data Management and Analytics
Published
29 Jan 2026
Modernising Storage in the AI Era

Is your data foundation ready for AI? Discover how 350 IT leaders are evolving their storage infrastructure to support the next generation of applications.

In the digital-first era, your storage infrastructure is more than just hardware—it is the foundation for innovation and competitive advantage. As Artificial Intelligence moves from a buzzword to a business requirement, organizations are turning to IT leaders to build storage environments capable of handling massive data demands.

This Executive Summary from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), "Modernizing Storage in the AI Era," provides a comprehensive look at how small and medium-sized organizations are adapting. Learn the key requirements for storage in a world defined by AI, security, and hybrid cloud integration.

Key Highlights:

AI as a Storage Catalyst: AI is the primary driver forcing organizations to rethink and modernize their data storage architectures.

Infrastructure as a Foundation: Modern storage is validated as the essential bedrock for innovation, internal operations, and customer engagement.

SMB Focus: Insights specifically tailored to organizations with 50-750 employees, addressing their unique resource and scaling challenges.

Hybrid Cloud Integration: The study examines the shift toward environments that seamlessly bridge on-premises and cloud storage.

Performance Demands: Analysis of how new AI-based applications require significantly higher IOPS and lower latency from storage systems.

Security Integration: The growing convergence of storage and security to protect critical data assets from modern cyber threats.

Investment Trends: Predictive data on where IT leaders are allocating budgets to support future application demands.

IT as a Business Driver: Validation of IT’s role in directly influencing and achieving core business objectives through technology.

Application Migration: Insight into how AI influences the movement of applications across different infrastructure stacks.

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