The News: Dell Technologies and Snowflake announced at Dell Technologies World 2022 they will work together to connect data from Dell’s enterprise storage portfolio with the Snowflake Data Cloud. This collaboration aims to help customers have greater flexibility operating in multi-cloud environments, meet data sovereignty requirements, and turn data into insights.
Once available, Dell and Snowflake customers will be able to use on-premises data stored on Dell object storage with the Snowflake Data Cloud while keeping their data local or copying it to public clouds. The companies will pursue product integrations and joint go-to-market efforts in the second half of 2022. Read the Dell Press Release here.
Dell Technologies World: Dell and Snowflake Seek to Simplify Data Access and Spur Insights in the Multi-cloud Era
Analyst Take: This was exciting news out of DellTechWorld 2022. We see the alliance between Dell and Snowflake as providing further validation that the multi-cloud era has fully arrived. By combining Dell’s well-established enterprise storage portfolio and extensive market presence with the Snowflake Data Cloud, organizations will have more flexibility to administer and optimize their workloads throughout their cloud implementations and according to their requirements.
We also see the move as further advancing Dell’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model for delivering data insights across on-premises and public cloud environments. This aligns with meeting growing customer and user demand for on-demand, customized data storage services that are specific to their workload needs and organization-wide policies.
The partnership augments Dell’s new software storage innovations targeted at providing customers more automation, security, and multi-cloud capabilities. At DTW 2022, Dell unveiled more than 500 software advancements across Dell PowerStore, PowerMax, and PowerFlex to provide faster data insights, improved multi-cloud data control, and increased cyber resiliency at no cost to existing customers.
The advancements seek to expand ecosystem awareness of Dell storage software innovation following the debut of Project Alpine, which aims to bring the enterprise capacity, performance, and protection of Dell storage software to public clouds.
To strengthen their partnership, we believe Dell and Snowflake should address the role of machine learning (ML) across their combined solution. Today Snowflake ML does not support Automated Machine Learning (AutoML), requiring users to rely on third-party libraries or chargeable services.
Also, Snowflake ML requires users to move both data and models outside of the database, which increases security risks by exposing more surface area attack possibilities and can make data stale by the time all the data movement and manipulation is completed. In contrast, Oracle HeatWave ML, for example, natively supports AutoML, including integration and completion criteria capabilities, and is convergence-based. I believe Dell and Snowflake now have a marketing opportunity to raise the profile of their ML portfolio capabilities, including putting cross-portfolio development emphasis on native AutoML tools and features.
Overall, we expect the Dell-Snowflake alliance to raise ecosystem-wide awareness of the expanding range of enterprise storage options and capabilities across on-premises and public cloud environments. As such, the partnership is well-positioned to help advance Dell’s vision of a multi-cloud world that is integral to powering digital transformation and innovations.
Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.
Other insights from Futurum Research:
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Image Credit: Dell
The original version of this article was first published on Futurum Research.
Ron is an experienced research expert and analyst, with over 20 years of experience in the digital and IT transformation markets. He is a recognized authority at tracking the evolution of and identifying the key disruptive trends within the service enablement ecosystem, including software and services, infrastructure, 5G/IoT, AI/analytics, security, cloud computing, revenue management, and regulatory issues.