Dell has announced the expansion of its cloud portfolio with a new hybrid cloud solution, featuring cloud technology jointly developed with Microsoft, designed to break down the barriers customers experience on their path to cloud. Additionally, Dell also is offering an “industry-unique” payment solution to help customers simplify and minimize risks associated with cloud adoption.
“The challenges most customers face on their cloud journey are clear,” said Jim Ganthier, vice president and general manager of engineered solutions and cloud, Dell. ‘They tell us it’s too complex, the cost-risk is too high, and control isn’t transparent. When you couple Microsoft’s unique Azure consistency from public to private cloud and Dell Cloud Manager integrated with the Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft, customers now have unparalleled cloud governance and control. With our new Cloud Flex Pay program, cost-risk is all but eliminated. These Dell innovations demonstrate we’re the only company today to provide the full range of cloud infrastructure, software, services and payment solutions to help customers unlock the promise of hybrid cloud.”
The Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft is an integrated, modular hybrid cloud solution. This new system would deliver simplified, automated deployment and maintenance capabilities; a unique payment solution (Dell Cloud Flex Pay) to reduce customer investment risk; and hybrid cloud governance, control, and policy-based automation for Microsoft Azure and other cloud environments.
The Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft is built around CPS Standard, which combines optimized Dell modular infrastructure with pre-configured Microsoft CPS software, including Microsoft’s proven software stack and Azure Services for back-up, site recovery and operational insights. Additional services from Dell include ProSupport and Managed Cloud Services.
“Customers want to simplify and accelerate their journey to the cloud, and today Microsoft and Dell are extending their collaboration to remove many of the traditional barriers to hybrid cloud,” said Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President, Cloud and Enterprise, Microsoft. “With CPS Standard, which is at the heart of the Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft, we’ve worked together to deliver a solution that goes beyond other integrated systems on the market today, by providing Azure-consistent hybrid cloud services and a fast time to value to help customers enable their hybrid cloud strategy.”
The Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft would provide customers with:
- On-premises private cloud with consistent Azure public cloud access “in less than three hours, and minimized downtime with unified system updates that are non-disruptive, fully automated, dependency-aware and smart-sequenced.”
- The ability to build and provision workload templates and flexibly deploy business services and governance models of multiple cloud environments from one management construct, via out-of-the-box integration with Dell Cloud Manager (DCM).
- Unified, “simplified” private-with-public cloud management and consumption control across Windows Azure Pack (WAP), Azure and other cloud services.
‘Cost-Risk Relief’
Dell Cloud Flex Pay is uniquely designed to accelerate customer adoption of cloud solutions wherever they are on their cloud journey. The Dell Cloud Flex Pay program provides customers with an option to deploy the Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft in a flexible, cost-effective way. Dell is making this payment solution available for the Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft so customers can experience the benefits of hybrid cloud without making a long-term commitment. This cost-risk relief would help customers experience hybrid cloud usage levels before committing to the purchase.
For example, an IT decision maker may be challenged in predicting test and development usage levels. Issues such as underuse and unanticipated demand can increase investment risk, lead to services gaps and not maximize capital budgets. Cloud Flex Pay would eliminate these risks, gaps and inefficiencies, enabling the IT decision makers to gain practical experience, greater certainty in planning, and make sound future cloud solution investments.
At the end of the initial six-month term, Dell Cloud Flex Pay users have several options available, including the ability to extend the evaluation period, continue to use the solution, return it or take ownership of it.
