Through data collected from 95% of its install base, Nimble Storage, Inc. takes the guesswork out of predictive analysis and helps eliminate bottlenecks.

In this interview, Jeff Frick and Stu Miniman, cohosts of theCUBE from the SiliconANGLE Media team, chat with Rod Bagg, VP of customer support at Nimble Storage, about how flash storage and predictive analytics are transforming not only the datacenter, but also customer service expectations.

If it’s gonna break – we fix it!

With so many of its Nimble Storage Predictive Flash Platform customers allowing access to its data, Nimble is able to look across the storage base and segregate patterns to understand how the exchange is really behaving. Thanks to this level of trust and sharing, Nimble can make recommendations to other customers and peer groups and even eliminate problems before they occur.

“In 9 out of 10 cases, we detect the issue a customer is going to have and automatically fix it for them,” said Bagg. Frick laughed as he recounted asking a Nimble customer about their customer service and getting the reply: “I guess it’s great support because I almost never use it!”

Less need for support services means that Nimble has streamlined their support staff, eliminating all level one and two members. This raises their level of customer service even higher, as it makes the more experienced and knowledgeable level three staff the first point of contact if a customer does require support.

Happy customers are key

As well as solving problems before they occur, Nimble uses existing data to help new clients predict sizing requirements before they buy an array. When asked if this upset the sales team as customers could not so easily be encouraged to over-purchase upfront, Bagg laughed and responded: “What we want is a happy customer base,” elaborating on how the data not only allows accurate predictions for first purchase needs, but assists customers to make efficient and accurate purchases as they grow.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Nimble Storage: The Power of Predictive Analytics event.

Photo by SiliconANGLE