Entrust ICT touts Chinese virtualisation vendor ZStack as VMware alternative

Melbourne-based IT and telco solutions wholesaler Entrust ICT has been named the first Australian distributor of Hong Kong-headquartered virtualisation vendor ZStack International.

ZStack’s main offering is an open-source infrastructure as a service software platform to manage compute, network and storage resources in data centres. Its platform is the underlying technology used by Alibaba Cloud to provide its public cloud solution.

Speaking to CRN, Entrust ICT chief executive Vincent Kennedy is presenting ZStack as an alternative to the likes of VMware, which itself is recently set to be acquired by chipmaker Broadcom.

“ZStack is an integrated full-stack solution that has a 25 percent lower total cost of ownership (TCO) over a five year period compared to the dominant vendor,” Kennedy told CRN.

“The company also provides stability with a model that’s known, and that potential takeover of [certain] companies would mean customers and partners would never know where they’re going to end up.”

Kennedy added that VMware is “almost monopolistic” with 75 percent of the virtualisation market, and says the ZStack solution is better.

“There’s a clear migration path from someone like VMware to ZStack, with migration pools and a management overlay that can manage both legacy and ZStack virtualisation.”

On potential concerns with the company being based in China and having ties with Alibaba Cloud, Entrust director Ignazio Ranno said the company has a "stringent" vetting process done before entering into any commitment with any company, regardless of where they are based.

"Entrust appreciates the sensitivities government and corporations have when dealing with their own data security and sovereignty. The ZStack core is open-source, enabling customers to review and have confidence in the product's integrity. In many ways, this provides greater transparency than many other vendors," Ranno said.

"We understand we have to prove our capability and competitiveness in the market and are extremely confident that ZStack International does not operate as an agency of the Chinese Government.

"If the attitude all Chinese-based companies are operatives of the Chinese Government, then Australia should cease trading with China, period."

In the deal’s announcement earlier this month, Kennedy said, “It is with great pleasure to announce the partnership between Entrust ICT and ZStack International. This partnership reflects Entrust ICT’s desire to collaborate with businesses that share in our vision of delivering quality solutions and services to partners.”

“I am passionate about Entrust ICT taking on this opportunity and look forward to working closely with the ZStack team.”

ZStack executive managing director Keith Poon said, "ZStack appoints Entrust ICT as our distributor in Australia and New Zealand. Cloud adoption has become an essential part of the newly agile business world; ZStack has allowed more than 2,000 enterprises worldwide to build their businesses and run their applications on an advanced, reliable and secured cloud platform.”

“This partnership with Entrust ICT comes at an opportune time as we progress towards a more advanced technology era, and we will accelerate the digital transformation altogether. With Entrust ICT's channel reaching, we are confident that this partnership will yield positive outcomes for both parties moving forward."