Software-defined storage (SDS) moves storage intelligence from hardware to software, allowing storage to be decoupled from hardware. This brings benefits like agility, security, and continuity of operations. SDS allows for simpler continuity through challenging periods by relying less on owned hardware and more on flexible, accessible multi-cloud environments. It also provides real-time scalability, increased choice of hardware, centralized hybrid cloud management, and is useful for backup and disaster recovery scenarios.