The IT Nerd

Datadobi has launched an Early Access Program for Data Access Review, a new capability coming to its StorageMAP platform. Developed in direct response to customer demand for deeper visibility and control over data permissions, Data Access Review will extend StorageMAP’s value by adding actionable permissions intelligence to unstructured data management. During the Early Access program, selected customers have the opportunity to test and help shape new permissions intelligence features. 

By formalizing and expanding StorageMAP’s ability to analyze and report on access permissions, Data Access Review enables organizations to identify excessive, outdated, or inappropriate access rights before they evolve into security risks or compliance violations. It integrates into existing unstructured data management workflows, ensuring that access governance becomes a natural extension of data visibility, classification, and remediation strategies.  

The Early Access Program is available exclusively to current Datadobi customers who are actively using StorageMAP. Participants will get an early look at new features, gain valuable insights about access permissions in part of their environment, and have a direct line to share feedback that will help shape the final data access product. 

Customers interested in joining the Early Access Program can reach out to their Datadobi account representative or visit our website

 Datadobi, the global leader in unstructured data management, today unveiled Advanced Storage Optimizer, a solution designed to take the guesswork out of managing enterprise storage. The new solution delivers visibility into cost-reducing opportunities, empowering enterprises to maximize efficiency and reduce storage spend. 

Advanced Storage Optimizer is available in StorageMAP 7.4, the latest release of Datadobi’s platform. It provides new levels of visibility into cost-reduction opportunities by identifying suboptimal use of storage tiers and enabling users to model scenarios before migrations. It also identifies ageing and unused data, suggesting options to reduce costs, including what to archive, along with reports that can be shared with stakeholders. By removing irrelevant data before a migration and continuously monitoring storage environments, Storage Optimizer ensures systems remain efficient and cost-effective over time.

The latest release of StorageMAP also introduces enhanced support for Microsoft Azure Blob archiving and new automated reporting features that simplify operations and integrate seamlessly with enterprise systems. These enhancements enable organizations to streamline data management, reinforce governance, and unlock greater business value from their storage environments.

In StorageMAP 7.4, reporting becomes smarter and more flexible. Teams can schedule reports at user‑defined intervals and receive them automatically in formats tailored to their needs, PowerPoint decks for executive stakeholders, and tabular outputs for programmatic analysis. Results can be distributed via email in a true “set‑and‑forget” fashion, ensuring insights are shared consistently and StorageMAP data flows effortlessly into broader enterprise workflows

Datadobi has today launched the latest version of StorageMAP, its enterprise heterogeneous unstructured data management solution. Delivering new capabilities to orchestrate and automate data management tasks across file and object storage, StorageMAP 7.3 enables organizations to create policy-driven workflows, act on data more precisely, and migrate between S3-compatible platforms while maintaining compliance.

Workflow automation

StorageMAP 7.3 introduces policy-driven workflows that allow administrators to define tasks executed by its workflow engine in response to specific triggers, such as a time schedule. A “dry run” feature facilitates reviewing the scope of a policy before full execution.

These new workflows support a wide range of use cases, including periodic automated archival, creating data pipelines to feed GenAI applications, identifying and relocating non-business-related data to a quarantine area, and more. Once policies are published, StorageMAP runs the workflows on schedule without requiring manual supervision.

Granular deletion and targeted data control

In addition, StorageMAP 7.3 adds support for granular file-level deletes. Administrators can identify files that match specific criteria and save them as input to a targeted delete job, which StorageMAP will execute. Each delete job generates a report that documents the job’s details and outcome.

This functionality addresses situations where a coarse-grained directory-level deletion is not possible due to the presence of both relevant and disposable data. By enabling precise file selection, StorageMAP ensures that administrators can apply accurate and effective deletion policies.

Object migration enhancements

StorageMAP 7.3 also enhances its core object migration functionality by supporting the migration of locked objects between S3-compatible storage systems. This allows compliant data stored in a Write Once Read Many (WORM) format to be relocated across different vendor platforms while retaining its retention date and legal holds.

To support cost and performance objectives, the solution includes the ability to select the S3 storage class during object migration or replication. By specifying the desired storage class at the time of the job, organizations can avoid unnecessary post-migration lifecycle policies and ensure data is written directly to the appropriate tier.

Customers dealing with increasingly complex data landscapes require solutions that enable them to stay in control without incurring additional operational overhead. StorageMAP 7.3 offers a practical way to address these important challenges by reducing the time teams spend on routine tasks and helping them move critical data without disrupting compliance or performance.

Datadobi has announced the general availability of the next version of its software platform, StorageMAP 7.2. The latest release introduces powerful new metadata insights and expanded data reporting, giving Infrastructure & Operations (I&O) leaders the ability to unlock and maximize data value with unparalleled visibility and control over their sprawling data environments. StorageMAP 7.2 lowers cost, optimizes storage, reduces risk, and aligns data strategies with evolving business and regulatory demands.

With unstructured data growing at an annual rate of 30–50%, I&O leaders face mounting challenges across cost management, security and governance. According to Gartner® “By

2028, over 70% of I&O leaders will implement hybrid cloud storage strategies, a significant increase from just 30% last year”. StorageMAP 7.2 has been designed to meet this demand by helping businesses make more effective data-driven decisions.

Among the improvements delivered by StorageMAP 7.2 are enhanced metadata query capabilities, which enable organisations to track cost, carbon emission levels, and StorageMAP tags with greater precision. The update also introduces automated discovery for Dell ECS™ and NetApp StorageGRID™ object stores, allowing enterprises to instantly identify tenants and their associated S3 buckets, simplifying the management of large-scale object storage environments.

Building on its existing orphaned data reporting functionality over the SMB Protocol, StorageMAP 7.2 now extends support to NFS environments, enabling businesses to identify and report on orphaned data for all data accessed over SMB and/or NFS protocols. This approach enables quick identification of data that is not currently owned by any active employee. Additionally, an enhanced licensing model provides organisations with the flexibility to scale their use of StorageMAP’s features according to their specific requirements.

StorageMAP 7.2 also optimizes the storage of data by helping businesses free up primary storage capacity and optimize AI data workflows. This includes new archiving capabilities that allow organizations to identify and relocate old or inactive data to archive storage, ensuring that high-value primary storage remains efficient and cost-effective. Additionally, the platform enhances AI readiness by finding and classifying data suitable for GenAI processing, enabling businesses to feed data lakes with relevant, high-quality datasets.

Datadobi, a global leader in unstructured data management, has today set out its vision to capture its place in the Unstructured Data Management market, propelled by 12 months of outstanding performance, technology innovation, and industry recognition. As organizations look to release the value of unstructured data across their hybrid cloud environments, Datadobi is ideally positioned to address their needs and transform it into a valuable asset that drives innovation and success.

As Gartner^® quoted in its Modernizing File Storage Data Services with Hybrid Cloud report* at the end of 2024, “ New hybrid cloud storage capabilities are now considered ‘must have’ to address the growing challenges of exponential data growth, digitalization and globalization of data, generative AI, resilience, cloud integration and migration.”                                                                  

To deliver on these growing challenges, technology leaders worldwide are focusing on their storage infrastructure to prepare for generative AI and other strategic IT priorities. This includes investment in effective hybrid-cloud strategies, which is now a key requirement for addressing ubiquitous data growth. With limited mature HCDS solutions on the market, Datadobi has built customer trust in the value of effective data management, building a software platform that reimagines how organizations can navigate data complexities, optimize business intelligence, and find a competitive edge.

Datadobi’s leadership position in the Unstructured Data Management market has been established following a range of significant business achievements over the last 12 months, which include:

StorageMAP 7.0 – a game-changer for the Unstructured Data Management market

StorageMAP 7.0 is a game-changer for the Unstructured Data Management market, with previously unheard-of features and functionality to provide the deepest insights possible into heterogeneous unstructured data environments. The solution enables customers to make the most intelligent data-driven decisions that drive innovation and competitive advantage with StorageMAP 7.0 while also managing their unstructured data’s inherent risk and escalating costs as never before.

Award-winning achievements and analyst recognition

A series of industry award wins underlined Datadobi’s exceptional performance in 2024. These included the Cloud Computing Magazine Excellence and ChannelVision Visionary Spotlight awards. The company also made CRN’s Big Data 100 and Storage 100 lists. In addition, Denise Natali, Datadobi’s Vice President of Americas Sales, was included on CRN’s “100 People You Don’t Know But Should” list.

The company was also featured in several key industry analyst reports, including Gartner’s “Modernize File Storage Data Services With Hybrid Cloud.” Additionally, Omdia recognized Datadobi’s StorageMAP platform for offering “comprehensive unstructured data management” capabilities and noted, that “Datadobi’s ability to handle unstructured data (documents, emails, social media posts, images, videos, audio files, sensor data, etc.) puts it above most other solutions.”

A growing international team

In 2024, Datadobi also strategically expanded its team, adding key sales leadership personnel, including Denise Natali as Vice President of Americas Sales, Michelle Butler as California Sales Executive, and other new personnel across the USA and EMEA. These strategic hires across multiple regions are central to the company’s commitment to growth and have significantly enhanced its capabilities in key target markets.

Today, Datadobi is launching the latest version of their powerful heterogeneous unstructured data management platform. When they announced StorageMAP 7.0 in June, they talked about offering enterprises insights to drive better control, portability, optimization, and management of their unstructured data. StorageMAP 7.1 takes it a step further and solves some focused challenges facing their customers globally, including offering an innovative HDI Archive Appliance Bypass feature, example dashboards, and the most important one, improvements to scalability and performance. Here’s a closer look:

Solving for: Scalability and performance 

StorageMAP is constantly evolving and improving. With the release of version 7.1, this trend continues with many behind-the-scenes improvements in scalability and performance.

For example, the Unstructured Data Mobility Engine (uDME) at the core of StorageMAP has been updated with new enhancements to address ever-growing scalability and performance challenges present in modern, unstructured data environments.

Why this matters

Scale is one of the most critical factors in dealing with unstructured data management in today’s large and complex environments. The challenge has two dimensions: 1) the capacity being managed and 2) the number of items (i.e., files and objects) being managed. Capacity and item count combine to create a challenge only StorageMAP can address. In contrast, trying to manage a large environment with a solution that cannot handle scale will result in disappointment, failed projects, and a sunk cost in software that doesn’t deliver the desired value. With its industry-best ability to handle scale, StorageMAP solves the problem altogether.

Solving for: Migration inefficiencies and performance bottlenecks

StorageMAP 7.1 employs an HDI Archive Appliance Bypass feature to drastically increase migration performance for archived data using the Hitachi Data Ingestor (HDI).

The “bypass” involves using multiple StorageMAP connections to the storage systems – one connection to the primary storage system and a second connection to the archive storage system. These connections effectively bypass the middleware HDI archiving appliance, which is responsible for both relocating data to the archive storage system and retrieving it when a client application requests archived data.

Why this matters

The problem with the middleware archiving appliance is its significant performance limitations that make migrating all active and archived data an extremely slow process typically riddled with errors. Additionally, the migration workload on the archiving appliance hinders continued archival and retrieval operations. In bypassing the middleware and reading data directly from the primary and archive storage systems, StorageMAP greatly accelerates and enhances the accuracy of an otherwise problematic migration.

Solving for: Onboarding and usability

StorageMAP 7.1 offers sample dashboards to help customers get started with the creation of custom dashboards.

While StorageMAP version 7.0 introduced the ability to create a library of custom dashboards, version 7.1 provides example dashboards to seed the library for a new installation. These can be used out-of-the-box with a new installation of StorageMAP so customers can realize value even before they create their own custom dashboards.

Why this matters

With the 7.1 release, Datadobi is providing example dashboards that a customer can refer to for both ideas to include in their own custom dashboards. Customers can also refer to the definition of the widgets included in the example dashboards as a training aid that will help them derive value from StorageMAP quickly.

The bottom line

Datadobi continues to raise the bar on what it means to deliver the world’s most powerful, comprehensive, and real-world proven unstructured data management platform – not to mention the only true vendor-neutral option on the market today. Whether you’re dealing with complex migrations, working to lower risk and/or cost, or looking for a seamless way to gain greater value and insights from your data, StorageMAP 7.1 is the answer.

Ready to experience the difference? Reach out today — https://datadobi.com/contact/ — to schedule a demo and to learn more about how StorageMAP can transform your cloud data file management strategy.

Datadobi, a global leader in Hybrid Cloud Data Services, today announced the appointment of Denise Natali to the position of Vice President of Americas Sales. In this newly created position, Natali will report directly to CRO and Co-Founder Michael Jack and be responsible for developing and executing revenue growth strategies, growing and leading Datadobi’s high-performance sales team, and ensuring Datadobi customers remain the most highly satisfied across the industry. 

Natali comes to Datadobi with an enviable track record and expertise in organizational transformation and expansion, as well as cybersecurity, digital modernization, and cloud solutions. Before Datadobi, Natali served as Vice President at Cox Communications, Regional Director of Enterprise Sales at Lumen Technologies, and Vice President of Sales at FastPay. She is a military veteran, having served her country in the US Army as a Military Intelligence Officer. She is also an award-winning cartoonist and a published author. 

For more information about Datadobi please visit https://datadobi.com.

Datadobi today announced the launch of StorageMAP 7.0, featuring new features to provide deeper insights into unstructured data environments, facilitate informed decision-making, and enable policy driven data placement. These advancements are in direct response to the urgent need for businesses to manage the acute risk, cost, and opportunity associated with the rapidly increasing volume of unstructured data that is inundating most enterprises. 

The single most significant challenge in managing unstructured data is its inherent diversity and its detailed variation. This diversity extends from the data content through the data formats, data sources, data locations, data users, data owners, data managers, and more. The value and usage of this unstructured data varies widely; while regulatory or internal rules govern some data, some has little value, and some may be damaging or even illegal.

Taming this diversity in large scale environments is the continued mission of StorageMAP. The 7.0 updates are a significant step in its journey to solve the unstructured data challenges of IT and business leaders alike.

StorageMAP 7.0 features the following capabilities: 

Data Insight Enhancements

Getting insights into the nature of unstructured data and organizing it to make sense to all stakeholders is the foundation of good data management. Insights and organization provide all stakeholders with the information needed to make decisions, create policies, execute actions that implement policies, and monitor policy effectiveness to achieve stakeholder goals.

For example:

• The IT department needs to understand where the data is located, how much it costs, and how important it is, and then relocate it as it ages through its lifecycle.
• Business units want to identify candidate GenAI data and copy it to a datalake for training, fine-tuning, or augmenting GenAI models.
• The Compliance Department wants to reduce risk by identifying and removing or archiving data with no business value.

Managing these diverse goals is complex in large unstructured data hybrid cloud environments storing billions of files. To address this, StorageMAP 7.0 includes two new features that help companies drive critical decision making about their unstructured data: Custom Dashboards and an Analysis Module.

• Custom Dashboards enable the entire range of stakeholders to create a library of views of their unstructured data that is relevant and specific to them. Custom Dashboards use metadata fields and StorageMAP tags to visualize, organize, and monitor the data in a single pane of glass. A Custom Dashboard has a number of key elements that can be added by the user including point in time charts, series charts, and lists among others.

Data shown on a Custom Dashboard can be categorized according to, for example, data ownership, age, last accessed time or any user defined tags such as data criticality, sensitivity, usefulness, and so on. Additionally, Custom Dashboards can be exported in MS PowerPoint® format to easily share with all stakeholders.

• The Analysis Module is the place to explore and analyze trends in an enterprise’s unstructured data and can also be customized to specific user needs. An analysis can consist of multiple layers of filters and classifications that create datasets matching the criteria of interest. The resulting datasets can then be used to create charts, tabular output, and other reports. The results can be included in Custom Reporting Dashboards and used as input for actions such as migration, replication, pipelining etc. all carried out within StorageMAP.

Data Mobility Enhancement

With StorageMAP 7.0, Datadobi continues to far outpace all competition by continuously adding new functionality to its unequaled armory of complex data mobility solutions. StorageMAP’s ability has been proven through millions of hours of real-life runtime in the most complex corporate and government environments.

StorageMAP 7.0 now supports WORM migrations from IBM COS and Hitachi HCP Object systems to any S3 systems supporting the S3 Object Lock API. Along with other Object and NAS platforms, customers with object-based WORM data on these platforms now have an accurate, scalable, and performant solution to migrate data while retaining legal hold status and retention dates.

Supporting these two systems specifically was necessary because these storage vendors were forced to implement their own proprietary WORM API protocols prior to AWS implementing WORM functionality in the S3 API.

StorageMAP 7.0 general availability (GA) is planned for July 2024. 

By STEVE LEEPER, VP, PRODUCT MARKETING – Datadobi

How StorageMAP Helps You Steer Clear – Transforming Compliance Nightmares into Strategic Wins with Next-Gen Unstructured Data Management

Even with top-notch experts leading the charge – managing data in regulated industries is no walk in the park.

For instance, take healthcare providers in the U.S. They have to deal with different rules for how long to keep patient records, depending on the state, all under HIPAA regulations. Over in Europe, companies have to be careful with how long they hold onto personal data, thanks to the GDPR, making sure not to keep it a day longer than needed. And, there are rules like SEC 17a-4 in the finance sector that require certain data to be kept just as it is – no changes or deletions allowed. Each industry has its own set of data rules to play by, and it can get pretty tricky to keep everything straight.

And, the stakes are high! A slip-up doesn’t just result in a slap on the wrist – it could lead to crippling fines, irreparable reputational damage, and protracted legal battles.

Businesses are between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, they could get hit with penalties if they don’t keep data long enough. On the other, they might face fines if they hang onto it too long. And with rules always changing and business demands ramping up, the pressure just continues to escalate.

In fact, according to Accenture, the cost just to stay compliant could jump by as much as 30% in the next few years, with the demand for regulatory technology (RegTech) expected to triple, hitting an estimated $204 billion by 2026.

So… what are your options? Where should you begin? A step in the wrong direction could lead to rather serious, and highly expensive ramifications (not to mention, be a tad career-limiting).

I would respectfully offer you should really take a look at StorageMAP. StorageMAP is unparalleled in its ability to help businesses get their arms around their data while slashing risks and costs. It really makes a hard job a whole lot easier. Here’s how:

• Full Insights – provides comprehensive visibility into your data landscape, illuminating everything from ownership to activity levels – crucial for heavily regulated industries that must account for every bit of data they handle
• Customizable Dashboards and Reporting – offers fully customizable dashboards for monitoring and reporting, providing insights into compliance status, data health, and operational efficiency
• Data Organization – organizes data efficiently, tagging and classifying it according to business and legal requirements – key in industries where data must be meticulously managed to comply with strict regulations
• Risk and Cost Reduction – ensures data is in the right location and managing inactive or orphaned data, StorageMAP reduces both the risk of non-compliance and the costs associated with data storage and management
• Data Mobility – data mobility capabilities are built to handle the scale and complexity of unstructured data, enabling actions like data migration, archival, and cleanup in compliance with regulatory requirements
• Advanced Integrity Protection (AIP) – ensures the highest level of data security, crucial for industries where data breaches can lead to significant legal and financial penalties
• Vendor Agnostic – operates across heterogeneous storage systems and clouds – ensuring optimal capabilities, protection, and security, as well as vendor lock-in avoidance, cost-efficiency, and maximum ROI
• Policy-Based Data Movement – facilitates archival, cleanup, and other data management actions based on predefined policies – ensuring ongoing compliance with industry regulations

Regulations are really piling up everywhere, becoming stricter and more widespread across almost every industry around the world. Why is that? Well, it’s a combination of factors. Technology is advancing rapidly. International trade is becoming more complex. People are more concerned about the environment. And, there’s a stronger emphasis on privacy and data security. As a result, governments and regulators keep rolling out new rules to tackle the latest issues, protect consumers, and promote greener practices. For you and your business, it just means there are even more hoops to jump through to make sure you’re staying compliant.

Not to worry… With StorageMAP, you get all the capabilities you need to more easily navigate the compliance landscape. And, as regulations keep evolving, StorageMAP has your back… making sure you don’t just survive but thrive.