FlexPod XCS — it just keeps getting better

Across industries and verticals, businesses and consumers are leveraging more hybrid and cloud technologies every day. IT shops are seeking the benefits of cloud while also keeping some data and applications on premises for a number of reasons—data gravity, governance, policies, procedures, and pay-as-you-go costs, among others. A recent study from Flexera found that 87% of companies combine both data center and cloud in their digital strategies. The ability to leverage multiple clouds, in both directions, is crucial in any strategic planning for infrastructure, on premises or in the cloud.

At NetApp INSIGHT^® 2022, we announced NetApp^® BlueXP^TM, our unified data services control plane for the evolved cloud. NetApp is delivering on the promise of a better cloud. BlueXP is a unified control plane that delivers a simplified, hybrid multicloud experience for management, storage, and data services across on-premises and hyperscaler cloud environments.

Now, with unprecedented visibility and simplicity, you can deploy, discover, manage, and optimize not only infrastructure and data, but the business processes that support them. An added benefit of NetApp BlueXP unified data management and data services for the hybrid multicloud is that more services and value can be built on top of this technology foundation, giving customers a base upon which more future value will be offered.

For FlexPod^TM and FlexPod XCS customers, Cisco and NetApp will bring the BlueXP technology and innovations into FlexPod XCS. Cisco and NetApp continuously update the integration of NetApp storage, on premises and in the cloud, into the Cisco Intersight cloud operations platform. BlueXP will be a part of this ongoing cycle through continuous integration and development, delivering more joint Cisco and NetApp value to customers through Cisco Intersight over time. FlexPod and FlexPod XCS customers benefit from on-premises, edge, cloud, and hybrid cloud workload deployments.

Data center customers must be able to move data and applications seamlessly among the clouds with a single control plane. Anything less isn’t a hybrid cloud. FlexPod XCS continues its hybrid tradition of industry firsts:

• Benefit from the first and only converged infrastructure that’s natively integrated into three leading cloud providers—Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud. Hybrid access enables lower costs and faster access because these services are sold, managed, and supported by Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
• Lower costs and increase IT productivity with automation, lifecycle management, and full-stack visibility for all your FlexPod XCS systems.
• Move faster and align to your business needs. You can choose out-of-the box workflows or combine workflows to suit your customized needs, using NetApp ONTAP^® and Cisco UCS workflows through Cisco Intersight Cloud Orchestrator software.
• Increase your client choice and options. You can set up your hybrid cloud to a leading public cloud provider in 5 minutes, so any FlexPod or FlexPod XCS system can become a hybrid cloud quickly.
• Enjoy the longevity of the FlexPod and FlexPod XCS platforms with a growing, diversified choice of workloads that cover nearly all hybrid, datacenter and cloud workloads. Over 200 reference architectures have already been tested and the ability to choose any major hyperscaler for your hybrid workloads or data storage.

FlexPod, FlexPod XCS, and BlueXP are first once again, and they're only getting better! To learn more about FlexPod and FlexPod XCS, check out these resources.

• FlexPod: The platform fit for your future
• FlexPod XCS: Where converged meets cloud
• NetApp and Cisco Solutions
• NetApp BlueXP: Unify hybrid multicloud management in the evolved cloud