The next 25 years start now: Powering the intelligent data future

Twenty-five years ago, most people thought of the cloud as weather and AI as science fiction. That was the world when NetApp entered in Australia and New Zealand in the year 2000.

This past week, as we celebrated our 25th anniversary in the region with our customers, partners, and employees, it gave me a moment to pause and marvel at just how far the world of data and technology has transformed since that launch.

The significance of this milestone is immense. It provides the opportunity to reflect on our legacy, honor our partnerships, and anticipate many more years of innovation together.

Over 25 years in Australia, NetApp has had the honor of helping organizations transform their data into knowledge for some truly groundbreaking innovations that better lives and communities.

For example, AGL Energy, Australia's leading energy provider, leveraged our solutions for a seamless cloud transformation, ultimately cutting their infrastructure costs by $2 million. Healius, the pioneering Australian healthcare provider, used NetApp to optimize their data for AI, resulting in a 10x faster time to medical diagnosis.

We have also been honored to partner with government agencies and non-profit organizations, supporting the digital transformation of the country's technology infrastructure and securing the nation’s critical data.

From the first office in Sydney, NetApp has grown into a team of over 300 people across ANZ. We've expanded our footprint with new offices across Australia, including Melbourne and Canberra, and developed an ecosystem of more than 60 partners.

It is the people behind this growth who deserve the credit: Our customers, for the determination we share and the trust they place in us. Our partners who fuel co-innovation. Our incredible employees, past and present, who are the heart of NetApp and our high-achievement culture.

Together, we are paving the way for the next chapter and a new era of innovation. Building on 25 years of excellence is not easy, but we remain committed to providing our customers with a trusted, unified data foundation, and the services that turn that data into intelligence.

Today, data is dynamic and hybrid cloud is the default. NetApp remains the only unified storage that is natively embedded with the three major public clouds and seamlessly integrates across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, empowering our customers with flexibility and scalability.

As the amount of unstructured data explodes, the biggest challenge to capture the current AI moment is unifying, managing, and properly governing data. Australia's AI ecosystem will continue to expand and Australian enterprises will move from AI proof-of-concept to real-world deployment. NetApp is uniquely positioned to help organizations turn their raw data into AI-ready data and move to real-time insights faster than ever.

There is a lot of exciting innovation to come—but true success is also measured by the positive impact on communities where we live and work. From helping to upskill Canberra’s workforce through the Open Source Institute (OpenSI), to supporting data-driven discoveries by the Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI) to fight childhood cancer, I am incredibly gratified to work for a company that prioritizes the best interests of Australia and New Zealand.

As we look to the next quarter-century, NetApp’s vision is clear: expand intelligent data infrastructure that keeps this region’s innovation moving safely, speedily, and sustainably—to the benefit of our employees, customers, partners, and communities.