Technology
2017 Tech Impact Awards, Enterprise: Qumulo
Seattle-based Qumulo, which makes a "data-aware" storage device, is a Gold Award-winner. Plus: Silver Award-winner Medbridge.
By Gianni Truzzi October 1, 2017
This article originally appeared in the October 2017 issue of Seattle magazine.
Seattle-based Qumulo, which makes a “data-aware” storage device, is a Gold Award-winner. Plus: Silver Award-winner Medbridge.
Location: Seattle | Employees: 159
Bill Richter, the president and CEO of Qumulo, observes with awe how the amount of data stored globally doubles every 18 months.
That means today there are around 4.7 zettabytes (about 5 trillion gigabytes) stored in the world. “It’s incredibly challenging for organizations of all types to manage,” he says.
Knowing not all of that data is equally valuable, Qumulo offers a “data-aware” storage device that helps manage those ballooning volumes. Real-time data analytics built directly into storage provide IT managers a view into what data are most valuable, which applications use them, and what can be archived or pur ged. People also store different types of data than they used to, Richter notes.
Once dominated by numbers that fit neatly into rows and columns, most data now involve content: images, videos, DNA sequences, maps.
“Content now vastly outweighs transactional data in volume,” Richter adds. The growth of the cloud means smarter storage systems are needed, encouraging more companies to partner with Qumulo, as Hewlett Packard Enterprise now does. As for the future, Richter says, “The growth rate is not letting up.”
Silver Award
Medbridge
Location: Seattle | Employees: 100
Rehabilitating from a major injury is hard, but following a physician’s instructions shouldn’t be. By some estimates, nearly 75 percent of rehabilitation therapy patients don’t keep up with their clinician-prescribed home-exercise programs, often because they couldn’t understand the instructions.
Medbridge helps improve patient outcomes through a smartphone app that makes directions clear, and its smart monitoring adjusts the exercises to keep them achievable to encourage patient compliance and success. The innovation, combined with Medbridge’s programs for medical professional education, helps clinics save money and boost patient health.
See the rest of the 2017 Seattle Busineess Magazine Tech Impact Award winners here.