In this episode, Chris talks to Sharad Kumar, Field CTO at Qlik about the value of good-quality data when developing AI solutions. Much of the current discussion around AI and large-language models (LLMs) is focused on the infrastructure and the significant expense needed to build and train generative AI. However, as the revelation of DeepSeek shows, the industry trend will see models commoditise and become cheaper to train and run.

If infrastructure and software become quickly affordable, what is the differentiator for businesses? The answer is clearly their data. Data has value to an enterprise, but only if it is in an acceptable format. That means being of high quality and in terms of how Qlik operates, a trusted resource.

During the conversation, Sharad explains the six metrics of the Talend Trust Score, a methodology that measures the value of data based on Diversity, Timeliness, Accuracy, Security, Discoverability and Consumability. He explains how the Trust Score is calculated, but more importantly, how businesses can build a framework to continually improve the quality and value of their data resources.

More information on Qlik can be found on the company website – here. Sharad mentions the user conference taking place in May, details of which can be found here. Finally, Sharad references the Qlik LinkedIn page, which can be found here.

Elapsed Time: 00:47:47

• 00:00:00 – Introductions
• 00:01:46 – Data is the value piece within AI, not infrastructure
• 00:02:27 – What is occurring within the AI market?
• 00:04:25 – The future will be a mix of AI model types and sizes
• 00:05:20 – Will businesses build or buy models?
• 00:07:10 – How will agentic AI architectures work?
• 00:10:30 – Customers need to focus on data quality
• 00:12:44 – Both training and RAG data needs to be high quality
• 00:14:40 – Agentic AI wil be intent-driven
• 00:16:43 – What does good data look like within an enterprise?
• 00:19:28 – Qlik has a 6-dimensional trust score
• 00:26:11 – How do customers calculate their trust score?
• 00:30:09 – Is AI driving better data quality?
• 00:34:51 – Qlik can help customers develop a data improvement programme
• 00:37:36 – Qlik brings “product thinking” to data
• 00:38:56 – Where are businesses on the AI journey?
• 00:41:12 – How is improving data quality driving improving AI benefits?
• 00:42:26 – AI could be applied to fix data quality problems

Copyright (c) 2016-2025 Unpacked Network. No reproduction or re-use without permission. Podcast episode #ggc2

In this episode, Chris discusses the options available to storage system vendors when building modern storage appliances, with Bill Basinas, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Infinidat. The conversation derives from an observation on architectural choices, following the move to AMD processors from Intel for the latest G4 systems built by Infinidat. AMD offers a greater core count per processor compared to Intel, allowing Infinidat to move to single socket designs, while gaining improvements from PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory.

Ultimately, this discussion highlights how modern storage system design can take standardised components and build flexible architectures, implementing most features in software. For Infinidat, that could mean expanding its range of solutions for smaller enterprise requirements, or building out products specifically for Edge use cases.

Although Bill did not reveal any future plans, the implication is clear – watch this space for future evolution of the InfiniBox architecture to a wider and more varied set of hardwaree configurations.

Elapsed Time: 00:37:13

• 00:00:00 – Intros
• 00:01:15 – How do vendors choose the hardware components for storage systems?
• 00:02:30 – What are the main (storage) technology challenges for customers?
• 00:04:08 – Customers want predictable data features
• 00:05:55 – Capacity demand continues to grow relentlessly
• 00:07:30 – Infinidat features are built into software
• 00:09:35 – Most AI requirements wil run on existing performance storage
• 00:11:20 – Modern hardware provides significant flexibility for system design
• 00:15:00 – AMD gives access to single and high core-count processors
• 00:16:10 – PCIe 5.0 provides for faster SSDs and power efficiency
• 00:18:46 – Infinidat has introduced smaller form-factor solutions
• 00:21:32 – Multiple cores will always get used!
• 00:25:53 – Infinidat G4 architecture provides for in-place controller upgrades
• 00:28:22 – Storage arrays should become more “virtual”
• 00:34:10 – Data services implementations are very different between vendors
• 00:35:55 – Hybrid architecture still has value in the Infinidat world
• 00:36:20 – Wrap Up

• Storage Unpacked 258 – Introducing Infinidat G4, InfuzeOS 8 and InfiniSafe ACP
• #202 – Enterprise Storage Consolidation with Phil Bullinger from Infinidat
• Infinidat adds customer value with SSA Express and improved SSA capacity

Copyright (c) 2016-2025 Unpacked Network. No reproduction or re-use without permission. Podcast episode #e4dr

In this episode, Chris discusses the enduring benefits of centralised storage, particularly with reference to storage virtualisation, with Dan Kogan, VP of Enterprise Growth and Solutions and Cody Hosterman, Senior Director of Product Management, both from Pure Storage.

Centralised or shared storage has been around for over 30 years, providing efficiencies in infrastructure and operational management. In the virtualisation context, centralisation provides the ability to abstract workloads from the hypervisor and add flexibility and data management features to a centrally managed platform. Vendors, such as Pure Storage, have invested resources in making centralised storage efficient, while also providing significant security benefits that couldn’t be achieved with an HCI model.

Although this discussion was intended to focus on centralisation, the ultimate conclusion of the conversation is to realise that centralised storage is a precursor to storage-as-a-service. This is where the industry is headed, whether using on-premises or public cloud infrastructure.

Elapsed Time: 00:35:34

• 00:00:00 – Intros
• 00:01:17 – Shared or Centralised Storage has become a perpetual feature of the data centre
• 00:02:00 – Where did centralised storage come from?
• 00:03:03 – VMware introduced compute efficiencies, centralised storage does the same
• 00:05:20 – Centralised storage now incorporates block, file and object protocols
• 00:07:10 – HCI was probably the biggest “challenge” to centralised storage
• 00:13:04 – Centralisation is bringing additional consolidation benefits
• 00:15:55 – Centralisation provides significant operational benefits
• 00:17:36 – Integrated storage (HCI) is inherently insecure compared to centralised storage
• 00:22:31 – Data mobility is a key requirement of modern enterprises
• 00:29:11 – Centralised storage is driving us towards storage-as-a-service.
• 00:31:10 – Storage is becoming an “endpoint”
• 00:32:31 – Wrap Up

• Analysis: Storage vendors assist in the optimisation of VMware workloads

Copyright (c) 2016-2024 Unpacked Network. No reproduction or re-use without permission. Podcast episode #jjr3