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Most resilience conversations focus on backup software. But what if the more consequential architectural decision is the storage layers beneath the software?

In my next Forbes article, I examine the evolving role of protection storage — and why it may matter more than many organizations realize.

If you’re considering how your resilience architecture — not just your backup software — needs to evolve over the next few years, this discussion is for you.

video transcript

In my next Forbes article, I’m examining what is becoming a foundational layer of modern resilience architecture: protection storage.

Not simply storage that holds backups — but storage deliberately engineered to serve as the durable layer for recovery, cyber resilience, and long-term data preservation.

Across the industry, we’re seeing increased focus on immutability, isolation, object-based architectures, and protection clouds designed for recoverability in a ransomware-driven threat environment.

Backup software continues to evolve rapidly, but resilience is no longer defined by software alone.

• Some storage platforms emphasize immutability and zero-trust alignment
• Others prioritize rapid restore through snapshotting or object versioning
• A select few are beginning to apply analytics or AI to detect encryption patterns and accelerate identification of clean recovery points.

All those advances are meaningful, but when you look across enterprise environments, a consistent pattern emerges: Most organizations operate multiple data protection toolsets.

The last time I surveyed the market, the average was just under three backup software products per organization:

• A primary data-center platform
• Often a VM-focused solution
• In many environments, SaaS protection
• In some cases, dedicated endpoint or OT coverage
• And in regulated sectors, a legacy platform retained solely for long-term retention or compliance mandates.

That is the reality of today for ensuring resilience across a heterogenous landscape.

Which raises a more consequential question: How do you ensure coherence across that diversity?

Fifteen years ago, many organizations were running traditional enterprise backup software feeding into protection-storage platforms that were purpose built for deduplication.

As production environments evolved, those organizations often reduced reliance on legacy backup tools and adopted newer software platforms. But they retained the consolidated protection storage layer.

Today, the options are broader — modern deduplication systems, scalable object platforms, and protection clouds engineered to operate across software ecosystems while strengthening cyber resilience and enabling economic sustainability.

Protection storage, in this context, is not merely a repository – its what enables architectural flexibility, cross-platform resilience, and long-term preservation.

So, what should you be looking for?

That’s the lens I’ll be applying in the upcoming Forbes coverage — and in the broader Resilience Architectures research initiative – examining how modern resilience stacks are being designed, beyond just which backup software is in use.

If you’re rethinking how protection storage should evolve over the next few years, I’m interested in your perspective. Those insights will directly inform both the article and the research. If so, message me — or leave your thoughts below.