“Follow the yellow brick road”
by Miki Sandorfi on June 29, 2010
With the hype in the market around cloud, it’s no wonder customers don’t know where to begin or which road to follow. That is exactly why Hitachi Data Systems is introducing new cloud solutions to help customers take a low risk approach to adopting cloud at their own pace.
Today, HDS announced the first in the Hitachi Cloud Services suite called Hitachi Cloud Services for Private File Tiering. This fully managed storage-as-a-service solution enables customers to tier inactive file data into an onsite private cloud environment and pay only for what they consume. HDS also offers a joint solution with Digi-Data, which delivers an end to end cloud infrastructure for telcos, service providers and system integrators looking to create differentiated cloud storage services for their consumers and SMBs.
The new private file tiering solution helps customers reduce costs and gain agility by tiering inactive data to an on-site cloud environment. Being within the confines of their data center and firewalls ensures they have control of the data at all times, but can still reap the benefits that cloud affords. The best part - customers don’t have to dip into their CAPEX funds. This solution is procured though a consumption based, pay-per-use model and is remotely managed by Hitachi Data Systems. Once the data is moved into this cloud environment, customers can expect to see cost savings, improvements in efficiency and operations of their existing file environment in addition to passing the management headache on to us. At the end of each month, customers will receive a bill based on the amount of data that was moved into this environment. Now, here’s where the agility part comes in – this solution was designed to grow and shrink to meet the changing demands of the business. And yes, customers will still only pay for what they actually used, when they consume it, which could be higher or lower each subsequent month.
The online storage-as-a-service solution in partnership with Digi-Data is yet another proof-point in how HDS is helping customers build robust, sustainable and comprehensive cloud environments. We’ve heard from many providers that they don’t want to have to order all the parts and put it together themselves. This is exactly why we’re working with Digi-Data so we can bring telcos, service providers and systems integrators an integrated solution, ranging from facilities to infrastructure to layered apps in addition to the services and integration to get their online offering up and running. The joint solution leverages Hitachi’s highly reliable and flexible storage infrastructure and Digi-Data’s applications and services, to enable providers to create sustainable, repeatable and differentiated cloud service for their consumers and SMBs.
There’s really no need to feel like Dorothy stranded in the middle of the haunted forest. With these cloud solutions, we’re taking the guesswork and risk out of the equation for customers looking to adopt cloud. We’re really excited to help customers get there by providing a pragmatic, incremental path that doesn’t disrupt their existing investments or operations while delivering real business value. If you’re interested in chatting with me directly on today’s news, feel free to join our Twitter Chat by following #HDSchat or contacting me directly via @mikisandorfi on Twitter.
