Nutanix partners Dell to expand platform to help firms use hybrid multi-cloud solutions

SINGAPORE – A cloud computing firm has devised a system aimed at helping firms cope with the costly and ever-increasing demands on their technology systems.

Nutanix’s approach – known as a hybrid multi-cloud solution – allows firms to manage all their data and operate different applications all from one platform.

The platform, which Nutanix developed in partnership with US technology giant Dell Technologies, makes it easier for users to undertake digital transformation by allowing them to use these hybrid multi-cloud solutions to improve their IT operations.

Nutanix chief executive Rajiv Ramaswami noted that cost, privacy and data security are all concerns companies have when running their applications. Data sovereignty is also very important in Singapore.

“The world is going digital and all these applications have to run some place,” he said.

“Some of them will run in public clouds, others will run in company or government data centres. So the world is now going multi-cloud – and we want to give this common way to operate across all these different environments.”

Bank BPD Bali in Indonesia, for example, noted a 70 per cent improvement in IT efficiency after it migrated to the Nutanix cloud platform, as man-hours for infrastructure management were sharply reduced. 

Dell is offering a ready-to-use, all-in-one appliance that combines Nutanix’s cloud platform and Dell servers.

The solution will be available with a variety of Dell’s PowerEdge server models to meet requirements from a wide range of customers’ applications, such as databases and virtual desktops.

Nutanix chief commercial officer Tarkan Maner noted: “Enterprises are managing a growing number of applications and looking for a unified platform to run their applications.

“This expanded collaboration will enable Dell and Nutanix’s joint customers to benefit from increased flexibility, simplified operations and strengthened resilience.”

The partnership was announced at Nutanix’s .NEXT 2024 conference, held in Barcelona in May. Nutanix also announced relationships with other partners, including artificial intelligence (AI) model platform Hugging Face, to expand its hybrid cloud capabilities.

Another Nutanix partnership, this one with ST Engineering, developed a hybrid multi-cloud management platform which aims to simplify certain processes while adhering to the highest security and compliance standards, enabling sensitive information to be handled better, among other advances.

Mr Rajagopal, ST Engineering’s executive vice-president and head of mission software and services, said: “Hybrid cloud is the future of cloud computing, combining the best of both worlds.

“(The platform) leverages the scalability and flexibility of public clouds for rapid innovation and addresses surges in demand, while maintaining data security and sovereignty on-premise.”

One of Nutanix’s customers is SPH Media, which uses hybrid multi-cloud infrastructure to counter tech outages, which have occurred in the past.

The recovery process to bring SPH Media’s servers back online would take between eight and 10 hours, said Mr Christopher Lim, the firm’s head of technology operations, infrastructure and cloud.

“We were looking for solutions that could reduce this process to anything less than an hour,” he added.

The company looked at various solutions but these required different skill sets and specialisations such as data storage management, said Mr Lim.

By using Nutanix’s services, the company can combine all these specialised functions, making it easier for their team to manage the infrastructure.

“Artificial intelligence will be the centre of all digital transformations. This will require computing power to process the immense data in the speediest manner possible,” said Mr Rajagopal.

There are growing concerns about the ethical implications of AI, including issues related to privacy, bias and accountability, he added, noting: “Hybrid cloud can... comply with regulatory requirements by keeping sensitive data on-premises while leveraging cloud resources for AI processing.”