Cloud solutions are all anybody in business can seem to think or talk about. This obsession with the cloud isn’t without its reasons though and the last two years have showcased just how important the cloud is.
However, the conversation about cloud solutions has shifted from “Which platform is best” to “How do we maximise our investment”. That question is an important one and it was the subject of a roundtable discussion with First Distribution regarding the Everflex solution from Hitachi Vantara.
One of the main issues with cloud solutions is flexibility, particularly in a cloud environment.
“Over the last two years with the COVID pandemic and even prior to that businesses have been looking at cloud solutions. A lot of businesses, and even end users, have grown worried about ingress and egress data and are asking instead of going to the cloud whether there are other options,” strategic partner executive and Hitachi Brand Executive at First Distribution Malcolm Goodwin says.
Many solutions don’t provide the level of flexibility that many local businesses need and that is where First Distribution and Hitachi come into the picture.
The Everflex solution from Hitachi Vantara is billed as X-as-a-service where X signifies storage, data protection and infrastructure. The key here is that Everflex allows a company to scale its services up or down as needed.
One of the highlights of Everflex is the ability to control costs. While cloud has been a big talking point, the cost of these solutions is only now starting to sink in according to Henning Vesterbaek, regional financial solutions manager of commercial operations in the EMEA region for Hitachi Vantara.
“When we spoke to customers three years ago there were three important things driving cloud decisions: cost, cost, cost. Very few business considered other important aspects such as whether a move to the cloud makes sense for a company or whether the environment is secure,” says Vesterbaek.
This thinking has changed as companies have realised just how gargantuan the task of moving to the cloud is. According to Vesterbaek, none of the businesses he has seen have executed a complete transition to the cloud. Many businesses manage to get 20 – 30 percent of their data or apps into the cloud and simply give up because the cost and efficiency they were expecting simply isn’t there.
Part of the problem comes down to one solution simply not being enough. Businesses need flexibility, while one business could be born in the cloud, solutions for that environment make sense but not every aspect of a business needs to placed into the cloud. This is particularly true when you consider that if a hyperscaler becomes in-accessible and your mission-critical data is stored on its cloud services, that data becomes inaccessible.
“What Hitachi has done is they have brought the cloud you can feel into your own data centre where you have control. When we speak to CIOs today the biggest pain is ‘do I have control over my data’ as well as the security aspects of managing data in the cloud,” explains Nazeer Ahmed, brand manager, sales specialist and channel/partner development at First Distribution.
Everflex is build on the idea that consolidating hardware, software and services into one platform allows for a more flexible solution. Businesses only pay for what they use and whether they need on-prem or off-prem solutions, Everflex can be adapted to suit your needs.
What First Distribution and Hitachi Vantara make clear is that there needs to be an earnest conversation between a business’s decision makers and external partners regarding the needs of the business from a cloud perspective. Only then can a solution that suits your business be designed.
To find out more about Everflex by Hitachi Vantara head here or contact First Distribution to find out how you can bring more flexibility and potential cost savings to your business.
[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]
