Violin Memory®, Inc., (NYSE:VMEM), a global pioneer of award-winning all flash storage platform solutions for primary storage and active workloads, today launched a new communications campaign called ’Disk is Dead,’ paying tribute to the enterprise storage technology that helped create the data center as we know it today, but whose days are numbered with the rapid rise of the all flash data center.

“Disk drives served the IT community well. But IT requirements have changed, disk drives can’t keep up, and flash storage technology simply provides a superior solution,” said Amy Love, chief marketing officer, Violin Memory. “We’ve launched our ‘Disk is Dead’ campaign to underscore this point, and to also begin a dialogue among data center professionals that not only is there a better storage medium, but that there are also better architectural approaches to 24x7 data center-scale storage, than simply swapping one type of drive for another.”

“The all flash array storage market is growing exponentially,” said Mark Peters, ESG Storage Systems Senior Analyst. “It is clear that most IT organizations are no longer wondering if, but rather when to make the leap; they move not only for the obvious benefits of flash, but also to leave behind many of the inherent challenges long associated with - but equally long accepted of – all-disk environments. Violin's latest and intentionally provocative campaign is focused on highlighting the issues data-center decision-makers face in this transition and emphasizes the capability that ‘clean sheet architectures’ have to simultaneously provide and optimize advanced data services, performance and capacity density.” For more information, watch Mark’s video on this topic.

Disk is Dead Campaign Giveaway Details

“Our goal with the campaign is to create a relevant, thought provoking and creative connection with today’s data center decision-maker. The idea to leverage the Grateful Dead® ‘Fare Thee Well’ concert resonates strongly with this audience,” Love added. The Violin ‘Disk is Dead’ campaign covers the seven stages of grief that many IT professionals may be facing with technology changing so rapidly, and will include a mix of digital, social, video and print communications targeting data center decision-makers and Violin channel partners and sales professionals, and includes grand prizes of airfare, accommodations and tickets to the “Fare Thee Well” Grateful Dead concert in Santa Clara, Calif. on June 27, 2015 among other cool prizes.

To learn more, and to determine eligibility to enter the giveaway, visit http://info.violin-memory.com/diskisdead. Visitors will receive one entry to the giveaway for each thought leadership resource they download. Visitors can return to the site each week to download a new resource piece and earn an additional entry. For details about the giveaway visit: http://bit.ly/1Ff7bdd

Separate giveaways will be available for Violin channel partners and sales professionals to win. Information about how Violin channel partners and sales professionals enter the giveaways is available on the Violin Partner Portal or by contacting their channel account manager.

To join the social conversation, use @violinmemory, #DiskisDead, #7stages, #Shock, #LoveYourFlash, #DEAD50.

About Violin Memory

Business in a Flash. Violin Memory, the industry pioneer in All Flash Arrays, is the agile innovator, transforming the speed of business with enterprise-grade data services software on its leadership Flash Storage Platforms™. Violin Concerto™ OS 7 delivers complete data protection and data reduction services and consistent high performance in a storage operating system fully integrated with Violin’s patented Flash Fabric Architecture™ for cloud, enterprise and virtualized business and mission-critical storage applications. Violin Flash Storage Platforms are designed for primary storage applications at costs below traditional hard disk arrays and accelerate breakthrough CAPEX and OPEX savings while helping customers build the next generation data center. Violin Flash Storage Platforms and All Flash Arrays enhance business agility while revolutionizing data center economics. Founded in 2005, Violin Memory is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Visit Violin Memory at www.violin-memory.com and follow us @twitter.com/violinmemory

Violin Memory Forward-looking Statement

This public announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the potential growth of the all flash array market, market acceptance of all flash array products, and Violin Memory’s business plans and strategy. There are a significant number of risks and uncertainties that could affect Violin Memory's business performance and financial results, including those set forth under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in Violin Memory's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2015, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and which is available on the Violin Memory's investor relations website at investor.violin-memory.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements in this public announcement are based on information available to Violin Memory as of the date hereof, and Violin Memory does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

All Violin Memory news releases (financial, acquisitions, manufacturing, products, technology, etc.) are issued exclusively by Business Wire and are immediately thereafter posted on the company's external website. For more information about Violin Memory, including Violin Memory’s trademarks, visit www.violin-memory.com.