CoreSite’s fifth annual State of the Data Center report shows a steady increase in hybrid cloud adoption, with 60 percent of organizations now using the model. Another 31 percent expect to adopt a hybrid cloud model within 12 months. The report’s authors note that many IT leaders have moved from a cloud-first approach to a “cloud-smart” design that offers greater flexibility and choice.
That’s not to say that hybrid cloud is a silver bullet. On the contrary, a hybrid cloud can be difficult to implement and complex to manage. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) helps organizations overcome these challenges and enjoy the benefits of the hybrid cloud with fewer headaches.
Benefits of HCI
HCI enables faster deployment with fewer staff resources than traditional IT architectures. It also simplifies management and helps organizations gain greater consistency across their operations. Because it enables seamless application delivery across multiple VMs, it improves application performance and significantly reduces the risk of unplanned downtime.
In other words, HCI is similar to cloud environments, making it well-suited to integration with cloud platforms. The software-defined nature of HCI also makes it easier to manage workloads across multiple platforms.
HCI for Hybrid Cloud
HCI’s simplified deployment and management make it a good starting point for adopting a hybrid cloud model. Organizations can even implement their hybrid cloud strategy in stages, starting with specific locations or workloads. There are also cloud services that integrate with HCI platforms and HCI solutions with features that make them easier to integrate with specific public clouds.
In addition, HCI can streamline the setup of a private cloud. It abstracts the physical hardware, creating an elastic and scalable environment that enables virtualized resources to be allocated and shared in multiple ways.
Because the primary value of hyperconvergence lies in software, many organizations assume that commodity hardware will suffice for hyperconverged infrastructure. However, the importance of hardware has increased as HCI use cases have expanded. Organizations need to choose a hardware platform with the compute power to meet the demands of today’s business applications. This is particularly true in a private cloud environment, where the platform must support shifting workload requirements.
Dell HCI, Optimized for Azure
The Dell Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI is a fully engineered infrastructure designed for the Azure Multicloud ecosystem — a suite of Azure services optimized for specific multi-cloud needs. Dell’s solution streamlines the Azure Multicloud experience across the IT environment while simplifying the operation of the on-premises Azure Stack. It also provides integrations with Azure Arc services, which connect on-premises resources with the Azure platform.
Native Azure integrations and software-driven automation streamline deployment and enable operational efficiency for reduced total cost of ownership. The solution has been validated by Microsoft and provides flexible consumption models and full lifecycle support.
The Dell-certified experts at Cerium can help you take advantage of this unique solution to streamline your hybrid cloud journey. Let us show you why HCI is the ideal platform for hybrid cloud and why Dell is the preferred solution for Azure Stack.
