PerceptionWow, it really has been a while ago since I wrote my last blog. A lot has happened. The COVID-19 pandemic really kicked-in globally, social distancing, working from home since March 2020, Zoom and Teams are my best two friends now, homeschooling two teenage sons, a night curfew, changed jobs and moved over to NetApp. Wait, backup, you work for who? Why?

Yes, you heard it right, I left VMware for NetApp. Don’t get me wrong, I still love VMware’s solutions. And it’s a great company to work for, but let me explain.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say NetApp?

Probably things like, storage appliances, NAS and maybe even the f…. word we don’t speak of anymore.

What if I tell you there is a new NetApp!

A cloud-led, datacentric, software company that helps organizations put to work data in applications to elevate their business. A data authority in hybrid multi-cloud environments, helping customers unlock the best of cloud technology.

So, NetApp doesn’t do storage anymore?

No. On the contrary, storage is still important but not as relevant as the value NetApp adds to the data that resides on it.

What do you mean?

Modern businesses are becoming more and more digital, need to be agile and have to innovate to be competitive in today’s fast changing market.

Data plays an important role in this. Businesses use data and analyze facts, statistics, measurements, and observations to identify patterns and trends in customer wants and needs. They also use data to track how their business is operating and find ways to be more efficient. Businesses benefit from having access to the right data, at the right time, and in the right place so that they can take informed decisions and maintain a competitive advantage.

So, why use cloud?

The cloud makes data more accessible and makes innovation faster.

New businesses use the public cloud instead of build own data centers. Meanwhile, traditional businesses can’t keep up with ever augmenting customer needs and expectations. Their enterprise IT infrastructure is not fast enough to access and analyze the data that they need to innovate. These businesses are migrating data to public clouds and building a hybrid cloud environment that enables them to manage data both on-premises and in the cloud. 

NetApp has partnerships with the biggest clouds, which include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Due to these partnerships, NetApp has created solutions to bring the enterprise-grade data services that businesses rely on into the cloud, and the simple flexibility of cloud into their data center.

Wait, but how?

We help design and build an architecture of systems, software, and services to connect and manage data as a single, connected experience. This is the business’s data fabric.Perception

A data fabric ensures that a business’s data is always on, always available, and easily consumed. And for businesses to get the most value from their data, NetApp helps them optimize the performance of their data fabric. 

We do this with a broad portfolio of solutions and services. To name a few, All Flash storage systems (AFF), Software Defined Storage (ONTAP, Solidfire), Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI), Object Storage (StorageGRID), AI (ActiveIQ), Monitoring & Optimization (Cloud Insights, SPOT), Backup & Disaster Recovery, Data Security & Compliance, Container/Kubernetes persistent data management (Trident, Astra) and a full range of Cloud Services aggregated in one centralized management portal, Cloud Manager.

NetApp started this brave journey a couple of years ago while others saw cloud as a competitor, NetApp embraced cloud and embedded it in every solution to easily make use of cloud technology in all kinds of different ways.

This is why NetApp is uniquely positioned and is the only “storage” vendor that can help businesses build a unique data fabric, simplify and connect their cloud, and securely deliver the right data, services, and applications to the right people, anytime, anywhere.

By now, I hope I changed your perception on what NetApp does and ask yourself “Why did I not know that? I want to know more.”

This is where I come in. As a Solution Architect, focusing on NetApp’s cloud portfolio, it is my job to evangelize what these solutions can bring to the table when it comes to agility and innovation using DevOps & Automation, align them to meet your objectives and tell and show our advantages and the value we bring to your business.

I sure can’t do what my customers are doing… but I certainly can help them get better at what they do!