NetApp is a Leader in Enterprise Storage Platforms

NetApp has been named a Leader again in the recently released 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Storage Platforms and placed first in the Hybrid Cloud Storage Use Case in the 2026 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Enterprise Storage Platforms. (1)(2)

Together, we think these and other market research reports tell a story about where the enterprise storage market is heading. In our view, customers today want their hybrid, often multicloud storage to function as one unified platform, with a consistent operating model across data infrastructure, managed and protected via a single interface, and offering flexible consumption options — as opposed to a complex and fragmented collection of point solutions.

Being named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Storage Platforms comes at a moment, in our assessment, of crucial changes in what enterprises require from their data infrastructure. Data readiness now determines whether AI projects reach production. Hybrid multicloud is where data actually lives and workloads run, particularly AI. Security has become a necessary property of the storage layer. And an estate spread across data centers and multiple clouds demands centralized management. NetApp is well positioned to serve these needs.

In the 2026 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Enterprise Storage Platforms, Gartner ranked NetApp first in the Hybrid Cloud Storage Use Case — just as they did a year ago. We’d argue that unified storage across hybrid multicloud, including native integration into all three major public clouds, is the foundation of a modern enterprise data platform and the hardest of the requirements to retrofit. It’s what makes real enterprise workload flexibility and optimization possible, and NetApp is the only vendor to deliver it.

The NetApp Platform vision

As an engineering leader, I've seen what fragmentation costs, and not in the abstract. Multiple products and environments, each with its own rules. Teams using different tools. Every outage starting with an argument about whose system it was. What we all wanted was one platform, wherever the data lived.

That's the challenge that NetApp has been helping customers overcome for more than a decade. NetApp ONTAP^® has long powered unified storage for any data and any app — in your data center and natively across all the major public clouds. Customers enjoy a consistent operational and security experience wherever they run their apps, and centralized management of all their infrastructure. Leveraging the NetApp Platform, tens of thousands of our customers have built intelligent data infrastructure to handle the most demanding workloads and simplify the most complex data estates.

We’ve focused on driving customer outcomes: from new insights via AI and analytics, to accelerating critical databases and enterprise apps, to securing the business with comprehensive data protection and disaster recovery, you can power everything, on-premises to cloud, on the NetApp Platform. NetApp Console consolidates management across systems, clouds, and data services into one interface, while NetApp Keystone enables customers to shift to an as-a-service model when it suits them operationally and financially.

What the NetApp Platform means for customers

The NetApp Platform is built to deliver on four key capabilities that are essential to our customers’ success:

1. AI-ready data, across your entire ecosystem. Teams can quickly move from pilot to production and idea to impact with real-time access to the entire data estate. Data is always current, governed, in place, and ready to power the most demanding AI workloads. A recent IDC study finds that only about 15% of AI pilot projects make it into production, and points to data quality and timeliness as foundational to the ones that do. (3) Arindam Banerjee, Chief Architect, VP of NetApp Platforms, wrote about the ways NetApp delivers on this requirement.
2. Unified storage, native in all major clouds, for all workloads. Organizations can confidently handle the most demanding workloads wherever they live, from on-premises to hybrid multicloud. ONTAP is the only first-party storage built into AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, providing seamless data mobility. Forrester’s 2026 trend report describes unified storage as no longer a passive foundation but an “active architectural decision” with wide-ranging impacts on AI workloads. (4)
3. Proactive protection against evolving threats. IDC’s latest research puts cyber-recovery and cyber-resiliency second only to agentic AI among areas where organizations expect to increase 2026 investment. (5) With the NetApp Platform, enterprises can consistently stand up to cyber threats via comprehensive, built-in data resilience and the most secure storage on the planet.
4. Complete control in a single interface. Gartner projects that more than 80% of large enterprises will run a hybrid deployment model for AI workloads by 2030, up from under 10% today. (6) IT can centrally manage and oversee the entire data infrastructure, from on-premises to the cloud, while utilizing agentic AI to achieve autonomous operations.

Independent evaluations point the same way

We believe other recent analyst reports confirm that our roadmap is well-aligned to enterprise customer needs:

• NetApp is a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Object Storage Solutions, Q2 2026. (7) Forrester’s evaluation found that NetApp has a “compelling vision of enterprise data infrastructure optimized for hybrid, multicloud, and sovereign use cases.” NetApp’s Vishnu Vardan wrote about what that means for enterprise AI pipelines and distributed data.
• IDC’s study of novel threat detection and response classified 20 technologies on novelty, uniqueness in market, and potential impact. NetApp Ransomware Resilience garnered 5/5 across the spectrum (8).
• NetApp is the only enterprise storage validated by the NSA for top-secret data management. We’re also on the DoD Approved Products List and FIPS 140-3 certified, and SE Labs testing verified our ransomware detection accuracy above 99%.
• NetApp is a 2025 Customers’ Choice for Primary Storage Platforms. (9) The Gartner Peer Insights™ Voice of the Customer report draws on reviews from verified end users of vendor products. NetApp was one of only three vendors recognized as a Customers’ Choice for this market. César Cernuda, President of NetApp, reflected on that vote of confidence from customers.

What’s next for NetApp

The NetApp Platform is how you build a truly intelligent data infrastructure, one that customers can rely on every day to power their most demanding workloads, their AI innovation, and their business success. Our focus stays where it has always been: extending the Platform’s capability, scalability, and resilience for the long term. There’s more to share in the months ahead. For now, our thanks to every customer whose trust and partnership shape where this Platform goes next.

Don’t miss: NetApp INSIGHT

We’ll go deeper on all our recent advancements at NetApp INSIGHT^® 2026, from September 29 to October 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The future of data infrastructure moves quickly, and INSIGHT is where the people shaping it come to go deeper. Register today to join the conversation.

Citations

1. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Storage Platforms, Jeff Vogel, Joseph Unsworth, Julia Palmer, Chandra Mukhyala, 19 August, 2026.
2. Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Enterprise Storage Platforms, Jeff Vogel, Joseph Unsworth, Julia Palmer, Chandra Mukhyala, 20 August, 2026.
3. IDC Special Study, sponsored by NetApp, AI-Ready Data Storage Infrastructure: Definition, Taxonomy, Ontology and Future Outlook, doc #US53709325, January 2026.
4. Forrester, Unified Storage Is Evolving To Tackle Enterprise AI, 2026.
5. IDC Analyst Brief, sponsored by NetApp, Storage Is the Front Line of Cyber-Resilience, doc #US54431826, March 2026.
6. Gartner, Hype Cycle™ for Hybrid AI Infrastructure, 2026, Dennis Smith, 28 May 2026.
7. Forrester, The Forrester Wave™: Object Storage Solutions, Q2 2026.
8. IDC, Novel Threat Detection and Response Report: Presenting 20 Novel Use Cases, doc #US53936425, December 2025.
9. Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Primary Storage Platforms, Peer Contributors, 24 February 2025.

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