An ever-growing array of options in the cloud field can make it difficult to choose just what exactly to go with in terms of setting up or expanding current operations. Datalink recently made that process just a little harder—or a little easier, depending on perspective—with the new release of its Cloud Complete package of services.
Showing the package off at the Cisco (News - Alert) Live 2016 event, Datalink's Cloud Complete system offers help on a variety of fronts, ranging from planning and design to security services and beyond. With Cloud Complete, security policies can be established directly at the application level, using analysis of client workloads from Datalink consultants. Using Cisco's Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and its software-defined networking (SDN) tools to achieve microsegmentation, it becomes possible to effectively hide a lot of sensitive customer data and make it much less likely that a hacker will even find the privileged accounts, let alone try to get in.
Moreover, Cloud Complete can also deliver a slate of key benefits like combining hyperconverged and converged systems into one central system, allowing an all-flash converged system to take over immediate demand while letting hybrids of flash and “spinning disk” hyperconverged systems step in to make management a little simpler to work with overall. Hybrid cloud management tools offer greater visibility, and a set of bundled services can be included, providing access to technical support with just one point of contact thanks to the Datalink OneCall Unified Support Service. There's even room for self-service portals to be added to the mix and provide value that way.
Datalink's chief operations officer Shawn O'Grady commented “There has been an explosion of technology innovations, including converged, hyper-converged, all-flash storage and public cloud, prompting clients to seek Datalink’s help with evaluating and choosing the best platform for their critical data center workloads. Clients turn to us to simplify the process and leverage our expertise in planning, building, deploying, and managing the proper technology and/or platforms for their unique environment.”
The debate between flash and hard drive storage has been around for some time, with each generating a really cogent case behind why each is better. Issues of expense, durability, accessibility, storage size and more have come and gone, and many have wondered if the hybrid approach isn't best. That seems to be the line that Datalink is straddling, and really effectively, too. Providing benefit on all sides makes for a package that's hard to refuse, and when it delivers this kind of value, it really won't be all that surprising if this service takes off in a big way.
Datalink's Cloud Complete system is delivering impressive value, allowing businesses greater flexibility and the ability to better defend against outside incursion. When a product can fill so many needs at once, that makes it a value leader, and one that a lot of businesses will likely be watching closely.