The storage industry has been going through significant dynamism and transformation in recent years. Much of this change has been driven by mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Historically, the storage sector has witnessed a rapid pace of M&A activity, but in recent times, both acquirers and targets have become fewer.
However, 2016 saw several noteworthy deals that may influence the future direction of the data storage industry. Most of these key acquisitions occurred in the all-flash storage domain. This was the year when enterprises truly began to appreciate the value of software-defined capabilities in their storage products—whether in all-flash/SSD technology or broader software-defined architectures. As a result, 2017 was poised to be an exciting year for software companies as businesses increasingly focused on innovation and agility in storage solutions.
Calsoft Whitepaper: Software Defined Storage – Quality Assurance
Key Data Storage Acquisitions of 2016
Dell and EMC Merger Completed
In September, two of the biggest names in the storage industry—Dell and EMC—completed their merger. The newly formed entity now possesses overlapping product lines, meaning some products will merge while others may be phased out. The long-term impact of this merger on the storage market and its M&A dynamics will unfold over time.
Western Digital Acquired SanDisk
With declining market share in traditional hard drives, Western Digital (WD) acquired SanDisk to enter the all-flash array market. This strategic move allows WD to reposition itself within the evolving storage landscape, although it remains a relatively new player in the all-flash segment.
Broadcom Acquired Brocade
The rapid adoption of Flash/SSD and Ethernet-based storage solutions has reshaped the SAN market, pushing consolidation among Fibre Channel (FC) vendors. Brocade, a key SAN switch provider, was acquired by Broadcom. Combined with Broadcom’s earlier purchase of Emulex in 2015, this acquisition gives Broadcom a complete FC networking portfolio.
NetApp Acquired SolidFire
NetApp acknowledged the growing dominance of all-flash storage with its acquisition of SolidFire, an all-flash startup. The move enables NetApp to enhance the performance of its block storage systems on SAN and remain competitive in a market increasingly driven by flash technology.
Pivot3 Acquired NexGen
Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) continues to gain momentum in the storage industry. Pivot3’s acquisition of NexGen highlights the growing acceptance of all-flash technology in storage products. By integrating NexGen’s all-flash capabilities into its HCI platform, Pivot3 aims to strengthen performance and competitiveness. However, since several competitors already offer similar features, NexGen’s technology will need to deliver exceptional performance gains to stand out.
