hyper-converged

Servers

‘Old news’ of NetApp HCI solution availability still the big INSIGHT highlight to NetApp channel

October 4, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on ‘Old news’ of NetApp HCI solution availability still the big INSIGHT highlight to NetApp channel
The first-ever NetApp HCI solution, announced in June, will be available in October, and that, rather than the shinier and newer announcements at INSIGHT, was what had solution providers buzzing.

Internet of Things

Hitachi unveils roadmap to the future

October 2, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Hitachi unveils roadmap to the future
Hitachi made multiple announcements of significance at their recent NEXT customer show, but they also gave some high level guidance about what’s coming in 2018.

Networking

HPE makes flurry of new solutions up and down SMB portfolio

September 29, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE makes flurry of new solutions up and down SMB portfolio
In addition to new SMB-focused server, storage, networking and hyper-converged product, HPE has brought their Consume IT OPEX pricing model from the enterprise to SMBs as well.

Storage

HCI software vendor Maxta announces migration capability from VMware to Red Hat

September 28, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on HCI software vendor Maxta announces migration capability from VMware to Red Hat
Maxta has developed the ability to migrate customers seamlessly from VMware ESXi to Red Hat, using their software, and looking to appeal to customers who want to move some of their workloads to a less expensive hypervisor.

Channel Programs

Dell EMC brings Scott Millard into channel storage role as storage push continues

September 26, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Dell EMC brings Scott Millard into channel storage role as storage push continues
Millard, a veteran EMC channel exec who has most recently been in charge of channels at Virtustream, comes on board the Dell EMC channel team as a focused storage specialist.

Backup

Comtrade enhances built-for-Nutanix HYCU backup solution

September 25, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Comtrade enhances built-for-Nutanix HYCU backup solution
Comtrade launched their purpose-built solution for Nutanix three months ago. The new version includes the ability to set Nutanix Storage Dense nodes as backup targets, and adding autodiscovery for Microsoft Active Directory.

Networking

Mellanox provides HPE’s first Ethernet storage switches in HPE StoreFabric M-Series

September 25, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Mellanox provides HPE’s first Ethernet storage switches in HPE StoreFabric M-Series
The M-Series family OEMed from Mellanox, which provide 100 GbE Ethernet connectivity, but also scale down to an SMB price point, provide HPE with a strong channel offering that has a large price-performance differential over Fibre Channel.

Cloud

OnApp enters hyper-converged space with Intel partnership – and low cost appliance

September 7, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on OnApp enters hyper-converged space with Intel partnership – and low cost appliance
OnApp, which has a larger global share of the service provider market, enters the enterprise HCI market with their software in Intel hardware, and a channel-only model with a master reseller/distributor in each geo.

VMware Canada country manager Sean Forkan
Channel Programs

VMware Canada transitioning to “channel-first mindset”

August 29, 2017 Robert Dutt Comments Off on VMware Canada transitioning to “channel-first mindset”
VMware Canada moves to get partner more involved in more sales, earlier in the process, as the longstanding “channel tax” is scrapped.

Backup

Dell EMC announces hyper-converged, hybrid cloud upgrades

August 28, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Dell EMC announces hyper-converged, hybrid cloud upgrades
In addition to upgrades to VxRail, VxRack SDDC, both their Enterprise and Native hybrid clouds, and new turnkey VMware Ready Systems for ‘do it yourself’ cloud deployments, Dell EMC also announced GA for XtemIO X2 and an upgrade of their Dell Data Protection Suite for Applications.