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GARTNER® HYPE CYCLE™

The Gartner report on the future of enterprise storage

Hybrid cloud storage is rated a high benefit technology at early mainstream maturity. Get the complimentary 2026 Gartner® Hype Cycle™ for Storage Technologies to see where it's headed.

Green cloud illustration with an upload arrow on a dark background.

How Gartner rates hybrid cloud storage in 2026

Source: Gartner, Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies, 2026

  • Benefit: high

  • Maturity: early mainstream

  • Market penetration: 20% to 50% of the target audience

Gartner Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies 2026 showing various technologies across five maturity stages.

Why this matters now

Hybrid cloud storage is essential because it unifies on-premises, edge, and public cloud environments into a seamless data services layer. As data grows and AI workloads expand, organizations need data mobility, elasticity and performance across locations. Hybrid models provide this agility while reducing lock-in and improving resilience for modern distributed data needs

A different approach to hybrid cloud storage

Most storage systems deliver this by copying data across locations. That works up to a point, but as files grow and teams spread out, those copies create friction.

LucidLink takes a different approach. Block-level streaming lets teams open multi-gigabyte files straight from the cloud and work on them as if they’re on a local drive, without downloads, copies and waiting.

LucidLink app showing a filespace uploading alongside a Mac Finder window.

What we believe you'll learn in the report

The 2026 Gartner Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies covers the storage technologies reshaping enterprise I&O. For hybrid cloud storage specifically, you'll find the Gartner take on:

  • Why it's important and its business impact for data-intensive teams

  • Its benefit rating, maturity and market penetration

  • User recommendations for choosing a provider and building the business case

  • A list of Sample Vendors in the category, including LucidLink

Person typing on a laptop on their lap.

Get the Gartner take on hybrid cloud storage

Get the report

A Sample Vendor

We're proud to be named a Sample Vendor in the 2026 Gartner Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies. We believe it reflects what our customers already know: the way teams work with large files has moved beyond sync-and-copy.

A Sample Vendor.

Teams that moved beyond sync-and-copy

Get the complimentary report

Get the Gartner take on hybrid cloud storage.

Gartner, Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies, 2026, 1 June 2026, By Julia Palmer.

Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from LucidLink.

Gartner and Hype Cycle are a trademark of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.