The Grateful Dead® may have performed their last live concert in Silicon Valley, but Violin Memory®, Inc., (NYSE:VMEM), a global pioneer of award-winning all flash storage platform solutions for primary storage and active workloads, is just hitting its stride with its “Disk is Dead” campaign – a lighthearted but poignant tribute to the enterprise hard disk drive whose days are numbered with the rapid rise of the all flash data center.

“In May, Violin re-ignited the conversation that as far as primary enterprise data storage is concerned, the disk drive is dead and flash is the future. In this discussion, which generated more than one million impressions with IT decision makers, Violin brought ‘center stage’ visibility to the technology transformation that is occurring as IT leaders are saying ‘Fare Thee Well’ to their old spinning disk drives,” said Amy Love, chief marketing officer, Violin Memory. 1,000 IT professionals and contest participants were rewarded for engaging with thought leadership pieces that brought to life the data protection, performance, and cost advantages of flash. Contestants were given the opportunity to win a variety of Disk is Dead prizes, including grand prize winners who received free trips to see the Grateful Dead at the “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead” concert at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The first phase of Violin’s integrated “Disk is Dead” campaign fueled a dialogue among data center professionals that not only is there a better storage medium – flash – but that there are also better architectural approaches to 24x7 data center-scale storage than simply swapping one type of drive for another. The campaign showcased Violin’s Flash Storage Platform (FSP) - the ultimate enterprise storage solution for the consolidation and simplification of next generation data center workloads delivering continuous data protection with the highest performance storage at the lowest CAPEX and OPEX possible today.

The “Disk is Dead” campaign continues to build upon the initial momentum achieved with IT decision makers by offering financial incentives and migration services for customers to move to flash for primary storage. The Bring Out Your Dead trade-in credit and Move Forward with Flash data migration promotions can be combined and will run through September 30, 2015. These incentives are available globally via Violin’s channel and direct sales team members.

You can learn more about the campaign by referring to Violin’s ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ blog, by visiting Violin’s Disk Is Dead campaign site, by emailing Violin at ttodd@vmem.com, or by calling Violin at +1 (650) 396-1005.

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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, 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.