EMC Zeroes in on Hybrid Cloud, Big Data with New Product Launches

Given enterprises’ propensity toward combining the use of their own internal infrastructure in tandem with private cloud models as the emergence of Big Data demands more space, EMC (News - Alert) is positioning itself in the middle of the so-called hybrid cloud with its new product launches.

During its conference in Las Vegas, the Hopkinton, Mass.-based storage giant unveiled 42 products as it overhauled its storage, backup, virtualization and management software portfolio with the two big themes being (you guessed it) – hybrid cloud and big data.

While public cloud storage models are perhaps best-suited for SMBs that do not have their own internal IT infrastructure and have more cost constraints, enterprises are adopting private cloud storage to ensure their data is safe, accessible and redundant.

In fact, Gartner (News - Alert) predicts that Global 1000 IT organizations will spend more money building private cloud computing services through 2012 than they will on offerings from public cloud-computing service providers. Furthermore, by 2015, combined spending for public and private cloud storage will be $22.6 billion worldwide, IDC (News - Alert) forecasts.

Hybrid models – which are cloud systems that utilize both internal and external resources – are more common among large enterprises that are using their internal IT infrastructure for many applications and are shifting to the private cloud for certain services such as storage.

As IT continues to evolve, data has remained the primary source of value for businesses, according to Pat Gelsinger, president and chief operating officer of EMC Information Infrastructure Products.

“We build data centers, not application or server centers; but rigid technology constraints effectively forced data to a lower priority. The onset of virtualization, cloud computing and big data analytics, however, have restored data to its rightful place as the center of IT gravity,” Gelsinger said in a company statement. “The shift is swift and irreversible, from dedicated infrastructure silos built around specific applications where data is either locked in a specific application or orbits the periphery, to a data-centric approach to computing. Today’s EMC announcements address this fundamental shift head on and deliver to customers the next wave of technology required as they transform their IT, their business and themselves.”

The following is an overview of EMC’s product overhaul:

•     The company launched new EMC VMAX enterprise storage arrays. The new systems – VMAX 10K, VMAX 20K and the VMAX 40K – include management software to pool storage resources and host applications.

•     Isilon OneFS, a scale out network attached operating system, was launched. OneFS has been revamped with code to handle unstructured data.

•     EMC announced VNX unified storage systems for the midmarket. The VNXe 3150 improves performance, incorporates Flash and simplifies management. EMC also extended a VMware partnership revolving around VNX systems (not very surprising since EMC owns VMWare).

•     Data Doman and Avamar systems were launched to focus on the backup and recovery market.

•     The company launched EMC VPLEX virtual storage with its RecoverPoint data protection software – aimed at disaster recovery sites and active data centers.

•     EMC enhanced its EMC Atmos Cloud Platform to focus on big data improvements and cloud connectors.

•     EMC launched DataBridge, which manages both internal IT operations and IT as a service.