Dimension Data banks on virtual data centres

Dimension Data has created a virtual data centre capability that cuts across the integrator's existing vendor-oriented lines of business.

The virtual data centre initiative will be headed by David Hanrahan, who has spent the past six years as general manager of Microsoft solutions at the system integrator.

His new role will see him consult across a much broader set of vendor architectures than Microsoft, but that's what customers want, according to Hanrahan.

"It's a results-oriented discussion as opposed to an ‘I have a cool platform that you should be deploying' type of discussion," he told CRN.

The virtual data centre space is dominated by two heavyweight tie-ups - Microsoft and HP on one side, and Cisco-EMC-VMware on the other.

Hanrahan said the virtual data centre initiative represented a "good mix" of vendors.

"Unlike in the past where we were aligned heavily with a vendor, we're treating this as the customer sees it. There are multiple approaches," Hanrahan said.

"The virtual data centre initiative is very focused around driving more business for all vendors in this space. I don't think it's ‘A' or ‘B' in this case."

Hanrahan said he could draw on "a team of enterprise architects" from the various vendor-oriented lines of business to help manage any implementations that came out of the virtual data centre initiative.

He also said there was no expectation that all Dimension Data's customers would want to engage with the integrator in such a vendor-agnostic way.

But it was suited to customers that were taking a "mid-to-longer-term view" of virtualisation or consolidation investments.

Among Hanrahan's first tasks will be to create "a maturity model for the virtual data centre".

Dimension Data's national Microsoft practice manager Brian Walshe has been promoted to fill the Microsoft general manager position Hanrahan left.

A replacement for Walshe's vacated role was not announced.