Highlights:
- According to NetApp, Teams require a better method of managing their data estates considering the recent shift to multi-cloud settings and the resulting complexity.
- Using a drag-and-drop interface, BlueXP’s integrated data movers enable data to be copied, synced, layered, and cached across all major clouds and on-premises systems.
NetApp Inc., a pioneer in data storage, announced the general release of NetApp BlueXP, a unified data control plane that it claims can make it easier for teams to manage storage and data services across on-premises and cloud settings.
NetApp BlueXP, unveiled at NetApp Insight, makes it simpler for teams to manage their complete data estate, including unified on-premises resources and first-party cloud storage. It accomplishes this via its comprehensive and integrated data service capabilities. They can enable the deployment, automation, management, protection, and optimization of data and the supporting infrastructure from anywhere.
According to NetApp, teams require a better method to manage their data estates considering the recent shift to multi-cloud settings and the resulting complexity. The organization believes businesses are up against obstacles and inefficiencies hindering creativity as they drive digital transformation. The “evolved cloud” that NetApp promotes with BlueXP allows teams to automate and streamline crucial data operations.
One of the most impressive new features of NetApp BlueXP is its unified storage management. Teams that use a unified data control plane gain the ability to manage any storage resource and have a single point of visibility across a variety of data environments, including NetApp’s all-flash arrays, FAS, StorageGRID, and E-Series arrays, as well as cloud-based storage options like Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, Azure NetApp Files, and Google Cloud Volumes Service.
This unification of storage systems strengthens AIOps-driven health or artificial intelligence-driven automation that maintains such assets. NetApp claims that AI-enabled health and status monitoring will notify teams of the workload and infrastructural problems and provide them with proactive advice on how to resolve them.
The benefits also allow to reach greater cyber resilience, as NetApp BlueXP powers an integrated zero-trust security paradigm. Another advantage is mobility. Using a drag-and-drop interface, BlueXP’s integrated data movers enable data to be copied, synced, layered, and cached across all major clouds and on-premises systems. The last benefit of BlueXP is that it allows for a more flexible consumption model where consumers only must pay for the storage resources they utilize.
According to Steve McDowell of Moor Insights and amp; Strategy, NetApp BlueXP expands on the success of the company’s ONTAP Cloud data management products with a platform aimed at businesses operating workloads across both on-premises infrastructure and public cloud platforms. According to him, BlueXP complements NetApp’s Spot offering well because it focuses on application and workload management, while Spot is more on storage and infrastructure.
McDowell said, “BlueXP, especially when combined with Spot, is a strong offering. Enterprises facing multi-cloud management challenges should absolutely evaluate BlueXP.”
While the product is compelling, according to McDowell, NetApp might not be able to gain that traction because BlueXP pulls it further away from its traditional storage roots into the very different multi-cloud infrastructure market, which is dominated by companies like VMware Inc. and Nutanix Inc.
McDowell continued, “Enterprise IT is all about multi-cloud, and it’s a hard challenge to address, but I like that NetApp has recognized this. NetApp’s offerings are the right ones. The big question is whether enterprises will embrace NetApp as it extends its reach beyond enterprise storage and accept it as a viable alternative to competing solutions from the likes of VMware. For current ONTAP customers, BlueXP is a no-brainer, but beyond that, we’ll need to wait and see.”
