Peter Vust: Innovations proceed

Peter Vust: Everything began in 1992 when Dave Hitz, the founder of Netapp, created the first operating system of data storage with the Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL) file system increasing performance and efficiency of data storage.

In 1993 the Netapp company created the first network attached storage of data providing shared access to files and simplifying data management (FAServer 400). Same year we started the first and only technology of data protection using copies of Snapshot and allowing to save disk space without reducing at the same time performance.

In 2002 the company provided the first unified SAN and NAS device (Data ONTAP 6.3) allowing to reduce TSO and complexity of DWH.

In 2004 us was the restrictions connected with management of disk space are overcome: Data ONTAP 7G OS separating data management and management of physical disks is developed. Since 2010 active implementation of the concept of IT-as-a-Service using the separated multi-user IT infrastructure constructed on the joint solution of Netapp, Cisco and VMware begins.

Innovations proceed: in 2012 we for the first time suggested to use cluster technologies to provide the continuity of work, quick entry of applications in operation and granting resources on the basis of all unified SAN and NAS systems of initial, middle and top class.

TAdviser: What external factors of the world market define vectors of development of Netapp as DWH producer today? What trends are not noticeable for the main market participants yet, but will have an effect soon?

Peter Vust: We observe certain trends at the macroeconomic level and factors which have a fundamental impact on how the organizations understand and use IT, including without limitation, their own IT infrastructure. These changes first of all are caused by the growing competition and aspiration to lower costs, to make business more flexible. In particular it concerns storage and data management. Vision of the main areas by Netapp company in which customers can face difficulties and which we help them to overcome is based on it:

• Workloads are placed on cloud resources more and more. At the same time a wide choice of private and public clouds and also giperskeyler of Amazon, Microsoft and Google, introduce more flexibility and change approach to acquisition of resources.
• IT departments evolve, becoming some kind of brokers of services. Infrastructures in which performance is provided as service with a possibility of tariffing are necessary for them now. For the customer it is important to manage not DPC, but data.
• Today customers look for possibilities of seamless integration at data migration between clouds without binding to specific provider. We have everything to give such opportunity, thanks to partnership with AWS and Microsoft Azure. We do not provide own cloud services and by that we do not limit the customers.

TAdviser: Modern solutions of Netapp for DPC set the new standard in the market, allowing to provide at the same time high performance, simplicity of management and low operating costs. What ahead what new technology and economic boundaries NetApp intends to take?

Peter Vust: We have different customers, their requirements to IT infrastructure are also different. Nevertheless, we selected several areas with which we can help them:

• As the hybrid cloud becomes the dominating model when building IT infrastructure of the enterprises, Chief information officers should monitor what data and applications will be processed on internal resources what - are given to provider, and for what computing powers of giperskeyler will be used. NetApp wants to offer customers a universal panel for data management which would allow to bring all this together.
• The virtualized and software-defined resources provide the new level of flexibility whereas the software allows to manage components of traditional infrastructure. Service providers are faced by a task to provide safe, simple and transparent data migration between resources and also integration of virtual components into the existing physical networks and storage systems, guaranteeing at the same time the level of service.
• Active junction on cloud computing and external services in data storage continues to throw down a challenge to traditional geopolitical barriers. Before the large enterprises conducting activity in the different countries there is a compliance with laws problem concerning information. The organizations which are out of the territory of the USA try to find such solutions in the field of work with a hybrid cloud which would allow them to retain sovereign control over the data and at the same time to take all economic advantages of cloud computing. Proposals of service providers should consider these calls.

TAdviser: In September, 2013 NetApp provided the strategy of ensuring flexible management with data connecting public, private and hybrid clouds. More than 175 service providers offering in the market more than 300 cloud services based on solutions of Netapp passed to new Clustered Data ONTAP OS. What approaches of Netapp in formation of the partner ecosystem including service providers, application developers and cloud computing?

Peter Vust: At creation of a partner ecosystem we are guided by the principle: for each customer there will be a service provider suitable him in terms of the scope of business. In other words, if the company works at local level, for example, in some part of the Russian Federation, then it usually needs the local partner of the same scale. If it is the large company working at international market in this case other service provider who also works at the global level is necessary and at the same time conforms to requirements of the customer.

The second important point - development of cloud services for separate tasks, such as, for example, IaaS, Enterprise Dropbox, SAP, BaaS. We build the whole ecosystem including the different service providers providing a broad spectrum of IT services for final customers. Besides, we closely cooperate with technology partners — software makers who develop software products for IT service providers, thereby reducing risks and facilitating service providers development process and an output to the market of cloud services of a corporate class.

TAdviser: How do you see perspectives of participation in this ecosystem of the Russian companies?

Peter Vust: In this area by us it is made significant progress, today we reached very high integration scale with [HyperV/Microsoft SystemCenter, VMware VSphere and OpenStack and also some other tools, such as, for example, CloudFactory of ASG company. We are very interested in integration into the cloud solutions developed by the Russian companies. We also have open API which can be used for achievement of this high degree of integration. As we managed to notice, the Russian service providers and end consumers actively use VMware, Microsoft and is studied at present by possibilities of OpenStack so in the presence of good local management tools it will be extremely interesting to us to take part in this process.

TAdviser: What new technological and organizational solutions within new strategy did NetApp bring to the market in 2014 and prepares in the nearest future?

Peter Vust: NetApp locates the clear strategy of support of the end users working on transfer of the transactions in "clouds" (or back, in dependence of their wishes). Thus, we actively work on providing to our consumers of the platform of storage and data management which our customers can use regardless of where these data will be processed. There are several examples: recently we presented the solution of Netapp Private Storage for Amazon Web Services and Azure which allows customers to store data in the country and at the same time to use computer resources from open suppliers of cloud services. We, undoubtedly, can offer the same also to local suppliers. Considering development of a situation in Russia, today becomes more and more important to find effective ways of data storage in the territory of the country for observance of the relevant laws and requirements.

NetApp aims to achieve the high level of automation and optimization of workflow, we achieved great success in respect of integration with SAP, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint and the leading virtual environments. This integration allows to reduce costs, to increase the level of the provided services and flexibility of IT infrastructure.

If to speak about convergent infrastructure, then FlexPod was very well accepted by the market. Recently we announced that the share of FlexPod makes three billion dollars in turnover of Cisco and NetApp and continues to grow actively. It shows, demand from users for the best options of reference architecture with one global center of support is how high.