David Scott, former CEO of 3PAR during its acquisition by HPE, has joined the board of directors at Cloudian. Cloudian is an independent object storage startup, along with MinIO and Scality. The landscape of object storage has changed significantly since 2011, with major storage vendors acquiring most startups in this space. This leaves Cloudian with limited acquisition options and the challenge of developing the business for a potential IPO.
Michael Tso, Founder and CEO of Cloudian, expressed his excitement about Scott joining the board, citing his industry experience and knowledge. The company’s vision revolves around providing innovative object storage solutions for the hybrid cloud, a goal shared by other vendors in the object storage market.
Scott’s extensive career includes time at HP before his role at 3PAR, which was acquired by HPE in 2010. He later held various positions within HPE before semi-retiring in 2015. Since then, Scott has taken on board-level positions and co-founded Nebulon in 2018.
Cloudian, as well as Scality, face the challenge of navigating towards profitability and a successful exit strategy. Cloudian, in particular, has secured $233 million in funding, with a recent $60 million funding round earlier this year. The company also appointed Bob Griswold as chairman of the board, adding to its strategic advisory team.
Both Scott and Griswold will focus on analyzing growth drivers in the object storage market and determining the best path forward for Cloudian under Michael Tso’s leadership. This may include considerations such as becoming a software provider for HPE’s GreenLake object storage offering and leveraging opportunities in AI.
Recent developments at Amazon’s re:Invent event saw Cloudian supporting AWS’s new S3 service, Express a zone. This collaboration highlights Cloudian’s continued involvement in the cloud storage market.
In summary, David Scott’s addition to Cloudian’s board of directors brings valuable industry experience to the company as it navigates the evolving landscape of object storage. With a focus on innovative storage solutions for the hybrid cloud, Cloudian aims to differentiate itself in a competitive market and drive growth towards a successful future.
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https://blocksandfiles.com/2023/12/05/david-scott-cloudian-board/