Hitachi Vantara named leader in GigaOm object storage

Hitachi Vantara has been named a Leader and Fast Mover in the 2026 GigaOm Radar for Object Storage, with the assessment highlighting its Virtual Storage Platform One Object product.

GigaOm's review of enterprise object storage platforms described VSP One Object as a scalable, software-defined object store for large enterprise environments, highlighting storage optimisation, data reduction and capacity use.

The analyst firm evaluates vendors on technical features, innovation and business impact. Its report also noted the growing role of unstructured data in enterprise systems as companies expand AI-led workloads and broader analytics use.

For Hitachi Vantara, the ranking adds to competition among storage suppliers seeking to position object storage as a core layer of data infrastructure rather than a system used mainly for archiving.

AI storage demands

GigaOm highlighted several strengths, including data paths designed to support AI and machine learning workloads, support for multiple deployment models and protocols, and the ability to scale from terabytes to exabytes and to billions of objects.

These points reflect a broader shift in the storage market. Object storage is increasingly used for data lakehouse designs, large-scale analytics, AI training pipelines and other data-intensive applications that require organisations to keep growing volumes of unstructured data accessible.

According to Hitachi Vantara, VSP One Object also includes native S3 Tables, intended to provide structured data access directly within object storage. The company says this can reduce the need to move data between environments for analysis.

It also cited automated identification of sensitive data, aimed at helping organisations manage protection and compliance requirements across large datasets.

Platform design

VSP One Object is part of the broader VSP One platform, which combines block, file and object storage across on-premises and cloud environments. Hitachi Vantara says the common architecture is designed to give customers a more consistent operating model across hybrid estates and reduce data silos.

The platform is also designed for 99.999% availability, a target intended to reduce downtime while supporting data movement and continuity requirements in enterprise settings.

Whit Walters, Field CTO at GigaOm, commented on the vendor's market position.

"Hitachi Vantara's approach reflects the broader shift toward unified data platforms," said Whit Walters, Field CTO, GigaOm. "The platform is supported by an aggressive roadmap and continues to evolve in response to user and market requirements, with a focus on rapid innovation and frequent updates. Its positioning as a Leader reflects its ability to scale and continue advancing as part of a broader unified data strategy."

Rising demand

The ranking comes as suppliers seek to show that storage products can support operational and analytical workloads in the same environment. Demand has risen as companies look for ways to store, govern and process data used by AI systems without fragmenting infrastructure across separate platforms.

Hitachi Vantara argues that object storage now needs to do more than hold data at scale. It is promoting the idea of a platform that can manage and activate data across different locations while meeting enterprise reliability requirements.

Customer needs

Octavian Tanase, Chief Product Officer at Hitachi Vantara, said customers are looking for storage systems to play a broader role.

"Organisations today need more than scalable storage. They need a platform that helps them securely manage and activate data wherever it resides," said Octavian Tanase, Chief Product Officer, Hitachi Vantara. "VSP One Object enables customers to support a wide range of workloads, from AI and analytics to data lakehouse environments, while maintaining the reliability and operational simplicity enterprises expect. By enabling organisations to work with data directly within object storage, capabilities such as S3 Tables help simplify analytics workflows and reduce the need to move data across environments."

Hitachi Vantara is the data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi. Its parent company reported FY2024 revenue of 9,783.3 billion yen and employs about 280,000 people worldwide across 618 consolidated subsidiaries.