We are clearly in the midst of a transformation in today’s digital era, and garnering growing attention is data. It’s not just about data, though, it’s about leveraging real time data to gain real time insights, which is challenging infrastructure to support this trend, and then some, as our real time reality proliferates.

Datera provides DaaS for everyone that wants to do so on-prem, and has done so with serious success. At Editors Day Silicon Valley, CEO Marc Fleischmann spent some time to discuss Datera, data, the cloud and more.

In April, the firm unveiled its first cloud-type offering for the enterprise and service providers, and building on this initial offering Datera is now shipping out version 2 of the product with some notable enhancements.

The new release is an all flash compliment – not single systems, just nodes of one cohesive unified cohesive fabric. As Fleischmann explained, “Now you can mix and match flash with hybrid...We have the automation behind it to automatically make that choice for you.” The release builds on the cloud innovation at hand. “We freed the operator to not worry about the what, we do all the heavy lifting,” stated Fleischmann.

The cloud is simply not enough to support demands, as Fleischmann noted, a multicloud strategy is necessary. For instance, Datera is currently working with Google (News - Alert) on an on-prem method to tie Kubernetes into the cloud – portability can prove prohibitive.

He continued to remark that there are a number of software-defined companies out there, but what separates Datera from the pack is the architecture. “We architected from cloud up, which allows us to provide software defined scale with the simplicity of Web-scale and the performance of traditional arrays.” People are no longer forced to choose between convenience and performance, as Datera doesn’t define a user space; caching, tiering, logic is all part of the software.

Policy profile templates allow applications to drive their storage needs. “We build an infrastructure that gives it to them on demand,” Fleischmann exclaimed. The combination of unparalleled data plane speed coupled with the agility and simplicity in the control plane results in “game-changing” elasticity.

The storage is set up in such a way that rules for infrastructure allow one to isolate an IP address or container and build security around it. Fleischmann touted, “We have customers that tell us ‘you bring security to the data side.’”

The cloud is truly all about the architecture of delivery. Today, Datera announced a collaboration with COreOS to accelerate stateful Kubernetes workloads for on-premises clouds. Elastic block storage is provided via Datera’s Elastic Data Fabric, and with CoreOS Tectonic offering self-driving pure upstream Kubernetes, it can be easily integrated. This results in a consistent platform for stateless and stateful applications, and a foundation to run containerized, stateful applications in the enterprise.

There is certainly merit to Fleischmann claiming, “Datera is Data as a Service for the data era.” The company appears well equipped to meet the storage requirements of the future – the IDC projects 44 Zetabytes of data, basically doubling every 18 months. And to boot, Fleischmann believes, “Morse Law is coming to data,” with performance set to serve as the differentiator.

Likening Datera’s service infrastructure with Uber, “You don’t have to worry about the car when it breaks...we address that in the data layer with the performance...you get the performance you want,” and because applications are defined, the infrastructure virtually drives itself, which allows enterprises to keep focused on creating value for the company. When it comes to scale, Flesichmann explained, “Others can go far but they run out of gas...our car can go further.”

I’d be interested in sitting down with Fleischamnn five to ten years down the line to hear his thoughts. Today, he confidently proclaims, “We see ourselves as the architecture for the next 20 years!” I’m curious to see where we’re at as an industry down the line.

As I mentioned in the open, it’s not just about data, it’s about real time data. Datera addresses the need to store and access data in an unprecedented manner; innovating on the fore of the bleeding edge in storage. The cloud just a few short years ago was uncharted territory; however, today we are seeing expertise put to work to optimize this nascent technology.

How are you dealing with data?