The next generation of the HPE Modular Smart Array (MSA), HPE MSA Gen 6, comes at time when technology spending is limited for most SMBs due to disruptions brought about by the pandemic.

With HPE MSA, SMBs can preserve cash with an updated entry storage solution that continues to get better with new data services and a modern architecture, the company said.

The solution designed for organisations with tight budgets is now available for order globally direct and through channel partners, HPE said.

"HPE MSA is helping SMBs by delivering the performance and automation they need to keep their businesses running," Chris Powers, VP and GM for Big Data and Collaborative Platform Development and HPE, said in a statement.

HPE said the new solution also allows SMBs to ensure their most valuable data is secure and easily accessible by employees, no matter where they are working from.

Through its new data services and a modernised architecture, HPE MSA enables customers who run on-demand businesses -- like media streaming and online education -- to manage their distributed applications and workloads more easily.

"The HPE MSA is ideal for the clients we serve whose businesses require a reliable, simple and low-cost storage solution that can match today's workloads, and scale as their performance and capacity needs grow," said Sky Cumming, Product Manager, Dicker Data, an IT distributor and HPE channel partner.

Updates to HPE MSA include automatic tiering for faster data access, an improved MSA Health Check tool that eliminates common causes of downtime, and integration with HPE Cloud Volumes Backup for Cloud backup and data archival.

HPE's portfolio of solutions for SMBs include the recently announced monthly subscription service for IT solutions through HPE channel partners, and the HPE MicroServer, providing a small office-in-a-box solution for a complete small office technology foundation.