Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, has announced three new ways for customers, providers and partners to gain the benefits of the cloud without compromising the control, flexibility or security of their data.
First is Hitachi Cloud – Compute as a Service, a new managed private cloud solution that delivers the economics and agility of a public cloud solution. Second are enhancements to Hitachi Unified Compute Platform (UCP) that streamline and accelerate the process of building and managing cloud. And third is a new Hitachi Cloud Service Provider Program that delivers more trusted cloud choices.
“Our upgraded Hitachi Unified Compute Platform, a converged solution, gives users the business agility and reliability they need to successfully transform their business with cloud,” says Ravi Chalaka, vice-president of solutions marketing, Hitachi Data Systems.
“Hitachi Cloud – Compute as a Service is a complete managed cloud solution that accelerates time to market, eliminates complexity, and aligns cost to quality of service and business usage. At the same time, it maintains the security of an on-premise solution. And our Cloud Service Provider Program provides more trusted choice in cloud services.”
The enhanced Hitachi UCP converged solution now provides strategic advantages that accelerate deployment, and streamline management and operations. It also includes new options to access VMware vCloud Air and Microsoft Azure for any organization that prefers to build and manage private and hybrid cloud.
Hitachi UCP Director infrastructure automation software enhances IT’s ability to build and deploy private and hybrid clouds, enabling control and management of physical and virtual infrastructures through a single plane of glass for Microsoft or VMware environments. UCP is now natively integrated with both Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 and VMware vCenter Server, so complete management and operation can be performed through existing, familiar management frameworks that customers use today.
“Today’s announcement represents a new level of collaboration between Hitachi and Microsoft, underscoring our commitment to ongoing innovation that simplifies IT for our customers,” said Brian Hillger, senior director of cloud platform product marketing, Microsoft. “Hitachi provides solutions that deliver key Microsoft technologies allowing customers to accelerate their deployment timelines and increase business agility.”
By combining Hitachi UCP with Hitachi Cloud – Compute as a Service, HDS extends the reach of Business-Defined IT through solutions that offer the flexibility and elasticity of cloud storage options while also maintaining the enterprise-grade security that is common in private data center solutions. Hitachi Cloud – Compute as a Service allows customers and partners to use a unique combination of service and infrastructure technologies that best suit their company’s needs through trusted systems integrators.
“Our key concern when building our multi-datacenter private cloud hinged around reliability and data availability,” said Jitendra Sangharajka, associate vice president and head of enterprise platform management at Infosys. “Having leveraged Hitachi storage for many years and experiencing high levels of reliability and service, we chose Hitachi Data Systems to deliver a converged infrastructure. Hitachi Unified Compute Platform Director native integration with both VMware vCenter Server and Microsoft System Center offers us the flexibility and operating efficiencies that our business and customers demand.”
Hitachi Cloud – compute as a service was developed expressly for organizations that need the agility and economic advantages of public clouds. These organisations can’t compromise the service levels and security of a private cloud model. The fully managed, secure, on-premises cloud solution allows IT to shift from a configuration that is based on technology with upfront capex costs to an offering that is based on outcomes and elastic pay-as-you-go pricing.
This model aligns costs to predictable outcomes and relies on Hitachi UCP for compute, network, storage and hypervisor functions within a customer premise to create a fully manageable and secure compute platform behind the firewall. Hitachi Cloud – Compute as a Service addresses individual service-level requirements by including flexibility to align costs with the dynamic requirements of the business.
The on-premises Hitachi Cloud – Compute as a Service is a managed solution that can be customized to include off-premises capabilities through the Hitachi Data Systems partnership with Equinix.
“With UCP, VMware and HDS have a strong track record of working together to provide our joint customers with world-class cloud solutions,” said Todd Surdey, vice president, global strategic alliances at VMware. “Hitachi’s new Hitachi Cloud – Compute as a Service with VMware solutions, builds upon that success with an offering that enables our joint customers easier access to the agility and economic advantages of the hybrid cloud.”
With Hitachi Cloud Service Provider Program, HDS is creating a network of CSPs that offer cloud services that are “Powered by Hitachi Data Systems”.
The Cloud Service Provider Program delivers the best enterprise-grade cloud technology to partners, coupled with joint business planning, cloud service design and a go-to-market approach that helps partners deliver the highest quality services to their customers.
Dave Kosman, director, cloud service provider program, Hitachi Data Systems, explains: “The program establishes a “shared risk, shared reward” model to ensure predictable economics and business success for partners. Hitachi will help CSPs design and package differentiated and profitable cloud services, and will also co-market and co-sell partners’ cloud services that are ‘Powered by Hitachi Data Systems’.”
“The new Cloud Service Provider Program from Hitachi Data Systems will better allow us to reduce risk and lower costs for our customers as they transition to a consumption-model, cloud-based IT infrastructure,” says Brian Cann, vice-president – cloud and infrastructure, global partners and alliances at CGI.
“We’re now able to accelerate cloud deployments for our customers and streamline and consolidate the operational tasks and management to support a number of cloud models. Additionally, our customers can scale up and down based on their individual needs, with the predictability of a consumption-based cost model.”
