Article | Ring Says

The era of AI is also the era of data, and the consensus has been widely reached that storage capacity must keep up with computing power.

This has opened up a huge market space for the storage market, among which SSD flash memory occupies an increasingly large market share due to its better adaptation to AI's requirements for efficiency and security.

According to Gartner's data, the SSD shipment capacity and revenue for core business storage in the global market are 3.3 times and 5.3 times that of HDDs, respectively. It is estimated that by 2027, the proportion of SSD flash shipments will exceed 50%, and the proportion of core business all-flash will exceed 90%.

Undoubtedly, this will be a huge market pie in the coming years. Among them, apart from opportunities with high entry barriers aimed at large government and enterprise customers, the commercial market targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be a major playground for many manufacturers deep in the industrial chain.

How to tap into this market?

In the complex industrial chain, storage has never been a solo game. Finding the right industrial chain partners becomes crucial, as it can achieve more with less effort.

Some manufacturers in the industrial chain are also making continuous efforts. A typical example is Huawei's recent launch of the Ultra-Simple All-Flash Data Center and Partner Pioneer Initiative, which aims to "invest 50 million yuan in marketing resources to fully support partners in seizing all-flash market opportunities and accelerating the digital and intelligent transformation of various industries."

Behind Huawei's series of actions, the strategies for storage manufacturers to advance into the commercial market are also evolving.

Storage manufacturers can no longer "fly like sparrows" when advancing into the commercial market

Many people have seen sparrows flying in large flocks, swooping up suddenly and then stopping after a brief flight.

Although it seems chaotic, there is a certain degree of organization in it, with collective action towards a specific destination.

However, this type of flight can only cover a short distance and cannot last too long, or the formation will become disorganized.

In the past, manufacturers in the commercial market primarily targeting large enterprises, to some extent, operated in a typical "sparrow flight" mode.

There were a vast number of manufacturers in the chain, and everyone was only concerned with how much product or service they could sell. Relationships between them were primarily contractual and based on interests, often leading to a lack of coordination and a "mind your own business" mentality. This approach made it impossible to move forward towards long-term industrial ecological goals, and overall efficiency could not be improved.

In the face of huge and long-term market dividends, overall collaboration and the support and empowerment of enterprises that play a supporting role in the industrial chain are undoubtedly more important, allowing all participants in the industrial ecosystem to maximize their benefits from the era.

In other words, to achieve customer satisfaction, business development, and corporate growth as a trinity, manufacturers must choose an industrial chain "partner" with stronger collaboration capabilities and more systematic support policies, rather than simply finding an "upstream partner."

Compared to the past "sparrow flight" approach, this essentially requires a "wild goose formation" flight, representing a fundamental change in the basic strategies of the commercial market.

In the "wild goose formation," the lead goose plays a crucial supporting role in the flight of the entire flock. The spirit of unity and cooperation is the foundation for long-distance and large-scale flights, enabling the entire flock to migrate over long distances to reach warmer destinations.

In this sense, Huawei's Flash Memory Universal Access Partner Pioneer Initiative is an action under the "Partner + Huawei" system, where Huawei supports and empowers partners to achieve wild goose formation flights.

"Partner + Huawei": Huawei Data Storage Opens the "Wild Goose Formation" Mode for the Commercial Market

A detailed breakdown of Huawei's Partner Pioneer Initiative reveals a strong internal logic consistent with how a "wild goose formation" achieves high efficiency and long-term flights. It also demonstrates how Huawei helps partners grow within the "Partner + Huawei" system, accelerates the digital and intelligent transformation of customers across industries, and firmly grasps commercial opportunities in the digital and intelligent era.

1. In terms of direct business growth, the "airflow assistance" formation helps improve flight efficiency

When advancing into the commercial market, partners are naturally most concerned about space and business opportunities, just as wild geese form a formation to fly faster and farther.

In the "wild goose formation," whether in a "V" or "I" shape, the key value lies in providing mutual lift, especially the initial lift transmitted by the lead goose, acting as a "behind-the-scenes support" to enable all geese to fly more effortlessly and for longer durations.

In other words, the lead goose is not a "leader" but rather a "supporter" of the flock's flight. Huawei's support for partners, in the form of 50 million yuan in marketing resources, acts as the "lift" provided by the lead goose to elevate partners.

Specifically, Huawei plans to comprehensively deploy print and online advertisements in target cities to enable end-users to directly understand Huawei's new storage solutions and their value.

Moreover, Huawei also helps partners address key points in the final decision-making process by opening eight exhibition vehicles, 20+ dialogue rooms, and nearly 1,000 visits and receptions. Resources include 21 sets of products and solutions, covering three partner clouds for 10 sub-scenarios. These resources eliminate customer concerns through the most intuitive experiences, enabling smoother "building, connecting, expanding, and exhibiting" for partners and ultimately facilitating purchasing decisions.

In short, as long as partners come, Huawei takes care of the work involved in influencing customer perceptions and driving decision-making conversions.

2. In terms of long-term corporate capability growth, "encouragement and support" fosters teamwork progress

In addition to aerodynamic lift, the psychological support provided by the team formation is equally important in "wild goose formation" flights. The lead goose's calls encourage companions, maintain flight enthusiasm, and continuously improve flight abilities and perseverance through sustained flight, enabling longer flights.

Apart from direct business opportunity conversions, Huawei has invested significant resources to help partners grow.

For example, in addition to market penetration, Huawei will also form an expansion team of over 560 people to directly help partners enhance their service and sales capabilities at various stages, including pre-sales, after-sales, delivery, and business, and seize market opportunities.

Huawei not only helps partners get started but also accompanies them throughout the journey.

Beyond the marketing process, Huawei also plans to establish an "online and offline integrated empowerment system," providing the OceanClub technical community, 600 offline courses, four annual Golden Seed boot camps, and over 6,300 storage industry talent certifications to comprehensively promote partner capabilities in all aspects.

Here, Huawei is not just a "business partner" but also, to some extent, a "growth partner."

Even in minute details, Huawei assists partners in accelerating their growth.

For example, in the era of short videos, Huawei's "E-Qizhi" community assistant will join partner WeChat groups to offer private courses on short video production and operation, directly enhancing partners' capabilities in this area and meeting new communication demands in the broader context.

3. Continuously seize opportunities with "directional guidance" for overall progress

Apart from reducing effort and honing flight abilities, another vital role of wild goose formation flights is maintaining the correct direction towards the destination.

Huawei's goal in partnering to expand the storage commercial market is to meet customer needs and implement scenarios. No matter how much innovation there is, it must ultimately be recognized by the market to seize the dividends of the era. Deviating from this will render all efforts futile.

It can be seen that Huawei's efforts to help partners advance into the commercial market have consistently revolved around scenario-based practices and genuine industrial demands. As part of the Partner Pioneer Initiative, Huawei will open 15+ model site visit resources and provide dedicated support from three innovation labs in Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Shanghai. The aim is to enable partners to "personally experience the effectiveness of solution implementations," thereby providing robust support for partners' sustainable operations.

Guided by the effectiveness of implemented applications, the entire "wild goose formation" will not deviate from its direction and will always generate genuine industrial value.

In fact, from conglomerates to above-scale enterprises, Huawei Storage is comprehensively realizing industrial implementations. According to official data, over 2,000 manufacturing enterprises, over 500 vocational colleges, and over 2,000 public hospitals nationwide have already adopted Huawei's Ultra-Simple All-Flash Data Center solution. It is expected that 2,800 universities, 13,000 vocational schools, 280,000 primary and secondary schools, 33,000 graded hospitals, and 380,000 manufacturing factories will undergo "all-flash" upgrades.

Practical achievements are the best direction and the core reason worth entrusting.

"Fly with power" — technology and products are the eternal support

Regardless of the formation, it is merely an "aid" to flight. The fundamental is to fly with power.

For the commercial market, technological innovation and product iteration are the underlying supports.

In other words, having genuine and substantial products is essential for success in the commercial market, enabling partners to earn money and grow. This is why Huawei launched the Partner Pioneer Initiative while also developing the Ultra-Simple All-Flash Data Center solution.

Built upon product solutions such as DCS data center virtualization, intelligent operations and maintenance, and production storage, this solution boasts four key features: "flash memory universal access, one-stop shopping, extreme simplicity and ease of use, and affordability." It targets the commercial market, offering advantages such as lower thresholds, one-stop convenient shopping, ease of use and maintenance, and affordable pricing, catering to the "all-flash" storage needs of current commercial market customers.

In the medical field, real-time data synchronization and second-level response can significantly enhance the operational efficiency of hospital digital systems. In the education sector, centralized campus data management streamlines university management, teaching, research, and other services. For example, what used to take three days for 10,000 students to select courses now only takes two hours. In manufacturing, this solution ensures efficient storage and management of massive amounts of data, significantly boosting business efficiency in intelligent quality inspection and providing ransomware protection.

As the digital and intelligent world accelerates, the value of data is rapidly expanding. Storing and utilizing data effectively has become a compulsory course for many enterprises, which also implies enormous opportunities in the storage market. For the numerous partners involved, advancing into the commercial market and choosing the right formation poses a crucial decision: whether to be a "sparrow" or a "wild goose." It's time to make a choice.

*All images in this article are sourced from the internet