NetApp has launched its own VMware audit and migration service amid ongoing customer concern over spiraling licensing costs and uncertainty over services.
Unveiled at its annual conference, the storage firm also expanded its cross-functionality with VMware, including deeper integrations with its new ASA A-Series block storage line, indicating it has no plans of abandoning its ties to the virtualization pioneer, but is cognizant of wider customer disrest.
NetApp’s new capabilities to improve hybrid cloud functionality and the expansion of its auditing and migration options follow a wave of similar moves from its competitors such as Pure Storage and Oracle.
But as other firms rush to build their relationships with hypervisor alternatives including Nutanix and Hyper-V, many businesses are wondering where NetApp stands on the ongoing VMware disarray.
NetApp CEO George Kurian tried to clear up this confusion during a media briefing at its annual conference.
“I would say we are the best friend of the customers of VMware, and we follow what customers want. I think what we see in the customer environments is four different positions that customers look at. The first is that they want to optimize the cost of their VMware estate. We have fantastic solutions for them to do that,” he said.
“Our ASA products, for example, can reduce the cost of storage in a VMware environment by 25% or more, and so we want to start that conversation,” Kurian added.
“The second [point] is there are some clients that say, ‘Listen, I want to look at public cloud as a way to replatform my applications, or as a way to manage my expenses with VMware.’ We have worked with VMware and with the public cloud vendors to give you very cost-effective options.”
Kurian gave the example of clients who are looking to move non-production environments (test and development) or disaster protection to the public cloud, noting NetApp has strong solutions for these use-cases too, which he claimed are more cost-effective than on premises.
NetApp CEO: “We have always believed in multi-vendor platforms”
For clients looking to modernize their IT estate, Kurian claimed NetApp has the “richest functionality” with Red Hat than any other player in the industry, stating there is work between the two to enable Kubernetes applications. This is in addition to ongoing collaborations with Google Distributed Cloud and Anthos in similar areas.
Kurian insisted the firm has always been a champion of multi-vendor platforms, citing how the company provides a distinct advantage for customers looking to move to new hypervisor solutions.
“We have always believed in multi-vendor platforms… [One of] the unique benefits that we see there is for clients that have storage on NetApp, they can move to a new hypervisor or a new container model without disruption because of the metadata conversion techniques that are available at NetApp.”
Kurian gave the example of one of the largest hedge funds in North America, who NetApp helped transition over to Hyper-V, stating its belief in the multi-vendor strategy is a differentiator from the competition.
“I think our approach is a lot more consultative than some of the other vendors. It’s, ‘go listen to the customers and see what options [they want], we have as a broad range of support as anybody else.”
Kurian called out some of NetApp’s competitors’ recent moves aligning themselves to where they see mid-sized enterprises turning to, as skyrocketing costs push them away from VMware, arguing that storage providers need to be transparent with customers and not leave them high and dry after having invested heavily in a particular ecosystem.
“I simply point out that it is irresponsible for someone who claims to be a partner of a customer to say, ‘Today I am positioning VMware and VXrail to you’, and then tomorrow turn around say, ‘go to Nutanix’. Where does that leave the customer?”
