Take Control of Your Data: Why On-Prem Security and Sovereignty are Non-Negotiable in 2026

In today’s digital-first economy, data is your most valuable asset. It fuels innovation, drives business decisions, and represents your competitive edge. But as data volumes explode and enterprise infrastructure becomes more complex, protecting this asset has never been more challenging.

Organizations in 2026 are navigating a perfect storm of data security risks. Ransomware attacks are more sophisticated than ever, strict regulatory requirements are expanding globally, and the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced a new frontier of vulnerabilities. In this environment, you can’t afford to guess where your risks are;  you need to know.

At Nutanix, we don’t think you should have to trade security for innovation. That’s why we’ve now expanded Nutanix Data Lens as an on-premises solution, in addition to our SaaS offering, giving customers the flexibility to secure their data in the way that best fits their environment.

The Modern Data Security Gauntlet

The threat landscape is no longer just about preventing perimeter breaches. Today’s biggest risks are often hiding in plain sight within your own data infrastructure. The very trends that drive business forward - cloud adoption, remote work, and AI, also create new complexities and vulnerabilities.

Let's look at the key challenges organizations are facing:

• The Ever-Present Threat of Ransomware: Ransomware is a constant danger. Attackers are no longer just encrypting files; they are exfiltrating data and using the threat of public leaks for double extortion. The key to resilience is not just preventing attacks but rapidly detecting and recovering from them with minimal disruption. According to a recent report from Enterprise Strategy Group, 46% reported that ransomware attacks went undetected for over a week.  Only 5% were able to successfully thwart all ransomware attacks in the previous 12 months¹. That’s a lot of time for damage to occur.
• The Unstructured Data Sprawl: Unstructured data, such as documents, presentations, media files and much more, is growing exponentially.
  • It is predicted that the total volume of data produced, recorded, transferred, and used worldwide will reach 394 zettabytes in 2028, up from 149 zettabytes in 2024².
  • Unstructured datasets make up 90% of all enterprise-generated data and are usually large, reaching terabytes or petabytes³.

Without a clear view into this incredible volume of data, it's nearly impossible to know what's sensitive, who has access to it, and whether it's stored in compliance with regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. This creates a massive blind spot for security and compliance teams.

• The New Frontier of AI Risk: The race to leverage Generative AI has created a new, complex web of security risks. Fueled by distributed enterprise data, AI introduces new attack surfaces like data poisoning and prompt injection that traditional security tools can't handle. Without strict data governance, AI models can also inadvertently leak sensitive corporate or customer information.

Taking Back Control with On-Prem Data Intelligence

Cloud-based services offer incredible benefits, but typically require sending your data outside your own security perimeter. For many organizations, especially those in highly regulated industries like finance, healthcare, and government, the risks to data sovereignty and security are simply too high. True control means keeping your data (including metadata) where you can see it and protect it.

This is where the on-prem deployment model for Nutanix Data Lens (NDL) becomes essential.

NDL (On Prem) provides deep analytics, ransomware resilience, and data governance for unstructured data such as files and objects on your Nutanix Unified Storage. By bringing this powerful data intelligence engine into your own datacenter, you gain the ability to address modern security threats, on your own terms, without compromising control.

Why NDL (On-Prem) is Critical in 2026

1. Support Data Sovereignty: With an on-prem solution, your data and the intelligence derived from it never leaves your environment. NDL (On-Prem) runs on your Nutanix cluster, enabling you to meet strict compliance and data residency requirements. This is especially critical for air-gapped environments where data and applications must remain completely isolated from external networks.
2. Fortify Your Ransomware Defenses: NDL delivers powerful ransomware detection and response capabilities directly within your security perimeter. It continuously monitors for anomalous activity, quickly provides alerts on potential attacks, and enables one-click recovery to get your business back online quickly.
3. Master Your Data Governance and Compliance: NDL gives you the visibility needed to get a handle on data sprawl. You can identify hot spots and audit access trails to see who is touching what, and analyze permissions to enforce policies of least privilege. This not only strengthens security but also provides the detailed reporting typically needed to satisfy auditors and regulatory bodies.
4. Innovate Safely with AI: By providing a clear understanding of your data landscape, NDL empowers you to enforce the robust governance needed for the AI era. You can prepare clean, properly permissioned data for your AI models, reducing the risk of sensitive data leakage and building a strong defense against data poisoning attempts.

Your Data, Your Datacenter, Your Control

The promise of a data-driven enterprise is immense but realizing it requires an unshakeable foundation of trust and security. You need to know where your data is, who has access to it, and how it’s being used.

With the on premises version of Nutanix Data Lens, you no longer must push your data out to gain cutting-edge intelligence. You can bring the intelligence to your data. It’s time to move forward confidently, knowing that your most critical asset is secured, sovereign, and under your control.

In addition to the security and control aspects of data management, we have also  announced a latest version of Nutanix Unified Storage which introduces many new scalability,  performance, and ease of use enhancements. You can find out more about it in our blog post here.

To learn more about how Nutanix can help you build a secure and sovereign platform for your data, explore our Data Lens deployment options here.

¹Source: Enterprise Strategy Group Complete Survey Results: The Ransomware Reality: Cyber Resilience, Data Resilience, and Data Protection, December 2025.

²Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created/

³Source: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/structured-vs-unstructured-data