1. What is your focus towards data centers in India?
A. The SDDC is poised to bring revolutionary changes by providing flexibility to data center storage, switching, security and other infrastructure components. The concept itself is not brand new, but there I feel that there still isn’t a better platform that may become the future of a data center. Much like the flexibility provided by server virtualization, SDDC will do the same for data center storage, switching, security and other infrastructure components that are either handled by bare-metal components or utilize separate virtualization platforms. The difference is that with SDDC, the entire data center will be controlled using a single virtualization layer. This means that all aspects of the infrastructure can be managed and controlled from one end to the other. We are already witnessing the early adoption of SDDC in Indian market. Many enterprises are in various stages of testing the impacts SDDC in their IT infrastructure. For firms which either operate own data center or work with a cloud service provider, the concept of SDDC is extremely appealing. The idea that a single virtualization platform could provide us with a complete view and configuration tools to manage an entire data center is a dream come true compared to the collection of point-based solutions we use today. So, as a SDDC provider, we are looking at building solutions that provide a completely virtualized data center that is fully automated by software and delivered as a service.
2. What kind of products and solutions are you aligning towards data center segment?
A. The rise of the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) promises to build on the progress of virtualization by completely abstracting every component of the data center from its underlying hardware so that IT can truly deliver IT resources as customizable, on-demand services. This is the transformative potential. However, the reality is that storage is still acts as a headwind to a truly virtual data center. Unlike applications, servers and networking, storage and its valuable data is still too often tied to proprietary hardware. A major reason that storage has lagged behind server and network virtualization is its inherent heterogeneity. Storage hardware and operating systems vary much more than server, client or network platforms. Storage platforms are incredibly diverse; even different arrays from the same vendor will feature different operating systems, proprietary APIs and unique feature sets. Storage naturally evolved this way over decades as a response to new and different application workloads that require unique performance and protection characteristics. Every new IT endeavor required a new storage array – be it block, file or object-based – optimized for that purpose. Out of necessity, storage administrators have become storage managers who spend most of their time managing arrays rather than optimizing information storage for the business. If enterprises and service providers are going to break from this pattern and be part of the evolution to a SDDC they need to fundamentally rethink storage. Disruption in storage is here. EMC ViPR brings the same virtualization benefits enjoyed by the compute and network elements of SDDC to storage. EMC ViPR is a revolutionary approach to storage automation and management that transforms existing heterogeneous physical storage into a simple, extensible and open virtual storage platform. The value proposition of the SDDC and cloud computing – easily consumed IT services, simple API access, and single management view – is now available for storage.
3.What are some of the tech trends in data center that are likely to shape the upcoming business dynamics?
A. Hybrid Cloud is shaping up the upcoming business dynamics. Using a hybrid cloud, enterprise IT staff can broker services from private and public clouds, enabling control over the best location from which to run business applications. The solution can also help profile applications and identify the most efficient, secure, and cost-effective IT operational model across both private and public clouds. EMC’s Hybrid Cloud uses a new end-to-end software-defined data center reference architecture that, naturally, is built upon EMC’s industry-leading private cloud solutions. In its basic form, the hybrid package consists of EMC storage and data protection, Pivotal CF Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and the Pivotal Big Data Suite, VMware cloud management and virtualization solutions, and VMware vCloud Hybrid Service. The Hybrid Cloud currently supports VMware environments and will soon support OpenStack and Microsoft environments. The Hybrid Cloud also enables users to integrate their private clouds with multiple public clouds to create a unified hybrid cloud using compatible, on-demand services from EMC’s many sanctioned cloud service providers.
4. Where are some of the big growth opportunities that are likely to come from in this segment?
A. Driven by increasing complexities in Cloud and storage, data center infrastructure is undergoing significant changes to suit the emerging needs of technology. Reliance on smartphones, tablets and use of social media have necessitated enterprises to embrace Big Data and Cloud as a mandatory strategy to streamline business practices. The Cloud is expected to have a greater impact on a company’s growth. Organizations are already consciously allocating special tech budgets. Technology in the data center (DC) didn’t change significantly over the last five years but with more entrants coming to the market this will be another area that defines the data center over the next five years. As the data center market matures, IT leaders are also making efforts to improve their data center strategies and keep up with the latest trends in the industry. Gaining a competitive edge is the new success mantra for many data centre service providers. The major factors driving data centers are, and the place where the opportunity really lies is energy efficiency, increase in data storage and transfer, virtualization, consolidation, and cloud. It believes that the data centers of the future will be highly focused on usage of renewable energy for their power requirements, increasing their cloud offerings, and dealing with higher utilization rates and densities.
5.What is your go to market strategy as far as data center solutions are concerned?
A. The need to support increasingly more complex and virtualized applications with greater agility and at a lower cost is driving a wave of change in data networking. EMC is collaborating with cloud service providers Netmagic and Sungard AS, as part of a larger effort to target the cloud market opportunity in India, which is estimated to be $1 Billion by 2015 according to Greyhound Research. EMC is working with each cloud service provider to offer customers a consolidated, customer-focused approach to designing, architecting, and running a hybrid cloud to deliver the speed and agility of public cloud services, with the control and security of private cloud infrastructures. The collaboration will focus on customers in manufacturing, healthcare, retail, BFSI and IT/ ITES sectors. Cloud Service Providers and IT organizations are wedged between two binary choices: the speed and agility of public cloud services, and the control and security of private cloud infrastructure. Through working with these cloud service providers, EMC is enabling IT to quickly, easily, and cost-effectively build a hybrid cloud that embodies the best of both worlds where almost all applications will live to make IT more efficient and agile and cost-effective.