What's hot in cloud? We ask VMtech

Who are your main cloud vendor partners?

As a hybrid cloud specialist, VMtech partners with a range of cloud vendors, with a primary focus on Microsoft Azure. The key to our hybrid offering is the integration of solutions from our key vendors, which include NetApp’s data fabric suite, Commvault, Zerto and Okta.

When did your company first get involved in this area?

Cloud has been part of our internal and customer conversations for a number of years now. Moving from talk to activity was largely driven by the presence of hyperscale providers in Australia, as data sovereignty had been a sticking point for local organisations.

Which certifications and/or credentials do you have that apply to cloud?

As a well-established systems integrator, VMtech holds a wide range of certifications
and credentials pertaining to both cloud and traditional data centre technologies. These include accreditations from Microsoft, AWS, VMware, Cisco, NetApp and Commvault.

Have you heard of any cool or interesting recent developments in the cloud space?

Cloud is tearing down the data centre boundaries and taking organisations' core data and applications outside the firewall. This has become a real challenge for security teams as authentication and authorisation is no longer centralised. We have recently partnered with Okta, an exciting new provider of Identity and Access Management (IAM) for cloud-based (and on-premise) applications. 

Can you tell us about a recent cloud deployment you have done?

A recent project centred on building a hybrid environment. The solution provides the customer with high-availability and uptime due to dedicated private cloud, simplified business continuity planning processes and the ability to cloud burst for extra compute, all delivered as a fully managed service. 

What is driving customers’ cloud projects?

There is no single driver, but the four key drivers we see on a regular basis are cost, risk, agility and CXO directives. 

Cloud is...

Not a silver bullet. It has pros, cons, ideal use cases, and not-so-ideal use cases.