The volume and value of stored data continues to rise exponentially, and whilst new software defined technologies are commoditising the data storage infrastructure and making data management more efficient, keeping pace with the evolution of data storage technology is tougher than ever

In the past, a reliance on product certifications was considered sufficient as the market was dominated by five or six storage vendors and the technology features and techniques they marketed were broadly similar.

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That world has now changed with a combination of significant mergers and acquisitions and the emergence of hyperscalers such as Google and Amazon who have turned the traditional infrastructure design on its head.

It is estimated that there are now 24 companies defined as ‘hyperscalers’ running 320 data centres globally which account for 68% of the cloud infrastructure services market.

To understand this new world and how companies are now using software to manage the data infrastructure, and data analytics to create meaningful business information, requires knowledge of the basics.

From where did these new trends emerge, what were the drivers, and what does the underlying storage architecture look like now and in the future? How and why have we moved to flash based storage, how does that impact data analytics, what do software defined data centres mean for our business?

Employers recognise these trends and place greater emphasis on certifications and IT certifications in particular. According to a recent study from CompTIA* nearly two thirds of HR executives indicate IT certifications are very valuable (66%) compared to only 30% three years ago.

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Their outlook of IT certifications importance has risen as well as 94% expect it to grow significantly or somewhat significantly over the next two years, an increase from 84%.

To date, SNIA has certified over 13,000 storage professionals worldwide, and our vendor-neutral storage certification program continues to be the industry leader in the independent assessment of technology skills. To find out more about our certification program visit www.snia.org/certification.

*Source: CompTIA HR Perceptions of IT Training and Certification Study

Sourced by SNIA Europe