Interview of TAdviser with the CEO of EMS in Russia and CIS Sergey Karpov

Sergey Karpov: Last year our customers for obvious reasons practically did not spend money for IT. The uncertainty situation, waiting of negative scenarios of business development braked projects. Same year their implementation goes more actively. There was healthy careful optimism which allows to plan activity of the IT companies.

Sergey Karpov: We did not feel explicit changes in the market in connection with the legislation regarding personal data processing. In terms of trends in this segment, it is possible to say that with small lag we repeat all global trends. There is a didzhitalization, solutions of the second platform become more mass - it is acquaintances to us ERP CRM and so forth. At the same time more and more the new generation of services and new businesses which are based based on the third platform considerably affect the market (in the terms IDC). It concerns applications for mass use - based on mobile technologies, social networks, technologies Internet of Things and so forth.

Sergey Karpov: In focus, certainly, there will be a work with everyone of market segments with the maximum return for the market and the maximum satisfaction of customers needs. As announced Michael Dell (Michael Dell) on EMC World 2016, the new company will be called Dell Technologies, and in its framework several structures of Dell, Dell EMC VMware, will be selected with Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks and Virtustream.

Sergey Karpov: Creation of own DPCs by customers as such is not the main priority now. In focus bimodal strategy. On the one hand, the companies have acquired IT infrastructures on which applications of the second platform are operated. There is an accurate upward tendency of efficiency of operating costs - it is traced as at us in the country, and around the world. All current applications are ERP, CRM, billing and so forth – continue to form a basis of activity of the company. At the same time there is the whole class of solutions which belong already to the third platform and require absolutely other infrastructure. The answer to these requirements from producers of hardware is well-known "convergent infrastructure". Here the automated platform providing infrastructure services is necessary. It should be self-configured that none of developers or operators of software spent months or weeks for receiving the necessary resource.

De facto bimodal operating activities which we propagandize among customers now consist in conversion of infrastructure of DPC (transformation of IT) based on modern technologies – including all flash, overcast, horizontal expansion and software defined data center - to lower operating costs, having redirected them on development of digitalization of the enterprise (digital transformation). Certainly, these four technologies should "be packed" into data protection - especially in the conditions of creation of cloud structures.

For the customer this complex approach means three steps. The first is an upgrade of a data processing center on one of the listed technologies. The second is a full automation of infrastructure. And the third – as a quintessence of the first two steps – evolution of operating activities of IT divisions (transformation of IT). There is internal service organization. The customer's task - to increase cost efficiency of exploitation of IT, having reduced costs, but not losing as service.

The solution which implements all these three steps we call "a hybrid cloud of EMS". According to the western statistics the customers who applied it note cost reduction on operation of the IT infrastructures for 20%. This conclusion is drawn on the basis of poll of 1000 companies abroad which went on the way of conversion of operating activities regarding operation of applications of the second platform. Thanks to it they became closer to transition to the third platform. Now these customers can consider new types of infrastructures formulate digital strategy three times more often.

In the West the largest enterprises already implement the strategy of digitalization, having decided on specific steps and milestones for the next period. In our country begin to think in this direction. Not all companies are ready to confirm that they began to develop digital strategy. But, at least, our customers note that they take certain steps developing the services constructed on technologies of the third platform.

Sergey Karpov: Did not hear from one of our customers of complaints to that there was not enough capacity of infrastructure. Usually those companies which work with external service provider do it, proceeding not from deficit reasons, but for reasons of cost efficiency and speed of reaction to market changes. Actually it a half-step towards creation of a hybrid cloud. There is also other situation when infrastructure is taken out to the entrusted external provider for receiving services in peak load.

Sergey Karpov: If we speak about applications of the second platform, then, obviously, it is very important. The main difference of software products of the second platform from the third is that there functions of fault tolerance and disaster tolerance are in infrastructure. In the third platform a situation another. There is PaaS (platform as service) which provides to applications service with the necessary level of fault tolerance and disaster tolerance.

The fundamental difference is that in the second platform we initially build the failsafe solution that for the software product everything always worked reliably. And in the third platform on the contrary – the software product itself knows that it has different requirements to infrastructure. When the maximum level of fault tolerance and disaster tolerance of PaaS is necessary 'buys' more services from a hybrid cloud, providing more failsafe infrastructure services.

Sergey Karpov: In the market dominate (and not in sense of marketing) two directions are a software-defined data processing center and the related cloud computing. Requirements very simple – full automation, orchestrating and management of infrastructure resources in a data processing center.

Customers in our country begin to use accurately software-defined data processing centers - at least, their components. Pilots with cloud computing do. Many create the internal service directory, enter the procedure of automatic confirmation and selection of resources on demand. Such solution class are very demanded now.

Sergey Karpov: We look for the optimal number of partners, to the maximum providing them access to our technologies. In particular, we provide access to program interfaces that they completed our solutions, specific to Russia. As we see, cooperation turns out rather fruitful. Rather great interest to partnership in this direction is noticeable.

Sergey Karpov: Our industry goes in two directions. It is stabilization of the second platform as applications for it will not disappear also in 5-10 years anywhere. Respectively, and requirements to fault tolerance from infrastructure will remain. We continue to develop solutions which are necessary for applications of the second platform, providing their fault tolerance and disaster tolerance.

At the same time the main thing is an investment into the third platform, into new types of infrastructures today. Here services of the same level and a class on the basis of kommoditi-kompontent which will be controlled a software-defined data processing center are created. A basis for their creation - orchestrating. In PaaS there are different levels of service, and the platform selects them for providing to applications, resolving all issues of fault tolerance.

Sergey Karpov: Perspectives are very interesting because this solution, in terms of functionality, probably, one of the best. We see great interest to it among customers. It is clear, that the competition in this market drama increased. At the same time our technology advance is very noticeable too in recent years. Our advantages are just in a trend of the third platform. It will be interesting.