SAP Hana-certified Vblocks on their way

VCE is to release a new version of its flagship Vblock converged infrastructure stack that is configured to run SAP's real-time business analytics product HANA.

The SAP-enabled product is the first of many Vblock Specialised Systems the company is planning to bring to market, the firm's CTO Trey Layton revealed to IT Pro.

"These are Vblocks that have been specifically designed to run certain applications," he explained.

"[The SAP Vblock] is not us running [HANA] on an existing system we sell, but is the result of us working closely with SAP to...create a system tailored to the [application's] needs."

The product is expected to go on general release next month, and is likely to be followed by Specialised Systems designed for use in government and healthcare environments.

"A great percentage of Vblock systems that we have in operation around the world are running SAP and because of our partnership with them, they were excited to [be involved] from the start," explained Layton.

"There are applications within our investor portfolio that could benefit from a Specialised System, such as Cisco's UC product, so you can expect to see a Specialised System around that particular use case in due course."

The product is one of a trio of new additions the tri-vendor coalition formed by VMware, Cisco and EMC in 2009 announced today as part of its Unleash Simplicity campaign.

In addition to the SAP-certified Vblock, the company will now be offering two further versions of its flagship private cloud-enabling product stacks (Vblock System 100 and Vblock System 200) aimed at the mid-market, as well as updated versions of its System 300 and 700 Vblocks.

The release of the Vblock System 100 and Vblock System 200 is something of a departure for VCE who have mainly targeted their products at the enterprise in the past.

Layton said the mid-market Vblocks should help it win new business downstream, as well as increase its hold on the enterprise.

"We see this as an excellent worldwide opportunity to enable customers in different market segments to experience and consume Vblock systems where the core Vblock 300 and 700 datacentre systems were too large an investment for them," he said.

"The 100 and 200 will expand the reach of customers we can address, as well as expand the range of [ways] our existing customers can use them," he concluded.