As organizations seek flexible, simplified hybrid cloud solutions that provide effective management, industry leaders are answering the demand with modernized, innovative options. The partnership between Dell Technologies Inc. and Nutanix Inc. provides a salient example.
Dell and Nutanix’s new offerings represent a significant development in virtualization infrastructure, particularly as organizations increasingly prioritize keeping pace with the demands of AI and cloud operating models. In a world where data and compute resources aren’t evenly distributed, the collaboration between Dell and Nutanix brings a much-needed focus on providing scalable, simplified hybrid cloud solutions for compute and storage management.
“Being able to scale compute and storage separately has always been a desire,” said Rob Strechay, principal analyst for theCUBE Research. He added that going from a scale-up to a scale-out perspective will “be key as people look to infrastructure modernization projects or things like AI out at the edge.”
During the recent “Hybrid Cloud Made Easy” event, Strechay and theCUBE Research Chief Analyst Dave Vellante talked with two top executives at Dell and Nutanix. They discussed delivering simplified, scalable hybrid cloud solutions through Dell XC Plus and the Nutanix Cloud Platform-integrated Dell PowerFlex, as well as the impact of AI and cloud operating models on infrastructure modernization. (* Disclosure below.)
Here are three key insights you may have missed from theCUBE’s “Hybrid Cloud Made Easy with Dell Technologies and Nutanix” event:
1. A scalable hyperconverged infrastructure and cloud models enhance control and drive operational efficiency.
Organizations have been looking to avoid the traditional storage “stair-step” approach, where acquiring more storage meant buying more compute, according to Strechay. Dell and Nutanix’s hybrid cloud solutions represent a shift to a new, more efficient approach where storage and compute can be scaled separately, delivering advanced hybrid multicloud solutions.
“It sounds so simple … being able to scale compute and storage separately. You used to have to put in a new cluster … [and] buy compute and storage even if you didn’t need the storage or you didn’t need the compute … or it becomes underutilized,” Vellante said. “This is really the instantiation of the cloud operating model now coming to hybrid infrastructure.”
TheCUBE Research’s Dave Vellante and Rob Strechay talk about innovations in hybrid cloud solutions.
The two companies bring innovations that allow organizations to scale their infrastructures more efficiently, according to Strechay. This flexibility is essential for companies that need different compute and storage levels, particularly as they integrate AI technologies into their operations.
“With the PowerFlex and beyond, as they evolve that storage stack … I think that the … XC Plus will allow them to get up and quicker time to return on investment while they determine if they need to go beyond that with the PowerFlex software-defined storage,” Strechay said.
These new developments are likely to help organizations as they seek to do more with cloud. As theCUBE often points out, cloud is an operating model as opposed to a place, Strechay added.
“When you start to look at where Nutanix has, all the way from hyperscaler to on-prem to colo all the way out to the edge, this is where we see a lot of applications that are cloud-native in origination and virtualized,” he said. “You still have a lot of virtualized applications out there. SQL server, as we’ve talked about, is still a very popular database out there.”
Here’s theCUBE’s complete analysis discussion with Dave Vellante and Rob Strechay:
2. Streamlined hybrid cloud management is crucial for reducing operational complexity and enhancing system reliability in the face of growing IT demands.
IT infrastructure complexity has soared with the rapid adoption of AI and cloud-native applications. In response to the overwhelming intricacies of maintaining separate systems, organizations are looking for hybrid cloud solutions that streamline the management of their environments.
“The focus for us is to think along four key pillars: a hybrid multicloud platform, having options for the future, consistently managing all environments and being ready for the future,” said Thomas Cornely (pictured, left), senior vice president of product management at Nutanix. “We’ve been working on this for years on our side. Nutanix … is rooted in hyperconverged, but we’ve been building the platform [by] adding compute.”
Hyperconverged infrastructure has become critical in this space, offering an integrated system that combines network, compute and storage into a single solution. This solution simplifies resource management while freeing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than becoming bogged down in operational complexities, according to Travis Vigil (right), senior vice president of product management at Dell Technologies.
“From our perspective, customers need a modern data center that’s smart, flexible and resilient,” Vigil said. “Flexibility and resiliency are top of mind for us … because we’re continuing to build out a virtualization portfolio that offers customers choice.”
Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Thomas Cornely and Travis Vigil:
3. Adapting to evolving technologies quickly and effectively hinges on flexible, scalable hybrid cloud solutions that future-proof IT infrastructures.
Ninety percent of IT organizations say they face increasing complexity in their hybrid cloud environments, according to Vigil. That figure reflects that nearly all organizations have a hybrid strategy and could use some help simplifying it. By providing solutions that scale compute and storage resources independently, Dell and Nutanix help ensure customers can meet the demands for high-performance applications without unnecessary overhead.
“We’re adding even more options to our portfolio with two new joint solutions,” Vigil said, referring to Dell XC Plus’ integrated turnkey hyperconverged appliances that combine the Nutanix cloud platform software with Dell’s PowerEdge servers. He added that support for Dell PowerFlex with Nutanix Cloud Platform would “provide customers with a flexible approach that includes bare metal servers, hypervisors, Kubernetes distributions and more.”
As AI-enabled and cognitive applications continue to proliferate, it’s increasingly essential for companies to ensure their infrastructures are adaptable and ready for the future. Nutanix’s cloud platform supports innovation by offering a flexible, secure foundation to keep pace with emerging technologies, making it easier for businesses to adapt to future challenges, Cornely pointed out.
“We evolved from appliance to software,” he said. “We made the software portable across all servers, across all clouds, and we’re now extending the reach of the software to existing environments that are combining compute on one side and IP-based storage on the other.”
Watch theCUBE’s complete event coverage here:
(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Hybrid Cloud Made Easy With Dell Technologies and Nutanix event. Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)