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Now that all the major IT products and services vendors are busy selling their various cloud-building hardware/software/services packages, the differentiation between platforms is really starting to kick in.
One of those major providers, VMware, came out Jan. 31 and claimed that it can get a company up and running with its own private cloud system in less than 30 days.
It’s not an earthshaking claim; after all, as long as there is enough storage, server power and networking bandwidth in a data center or small IT setup, a private cloud is mostly software that simply needs to be installed, tested, loaded with virtual machines, made secure and deployed. But no other company yet has been specific to claim a ceiling of 30 days on such an installation/deployment.
There are two aspects to this. The software package is bundled as VMware’s vCloud Accelerator service, which uses vSphere, vCloud Director, vCenter Chargeback and VMware vShield as the basis for the cloud setup.
No. 2 is the actual service, VMware vCloud Jumpstart, in which VMware experts guide the user on-site. Jumpstart provides the training along with a hands-on way for customers to evaluate a nonproduction installation of the VMware vCloud package.
Customer Demand a Key Factor
“This is really born from customer demand,” Matthew Stepnoski, VMware’s vice president of technical services in the cloud division, told eWEEK. “Our customers wanted to get their hands dirty, they wanted to understand pragmatically speaking what cloud-specifically private cloud-could do for them.
“A lot of them had preconceived notions about how they would use private clouds. For a majority of those customers, they had no idea they’d be to do as much, and as efficiently, as they found that they can do.”
The customer set in the testing of this “instant private cloud” initiative is global in nature and entails various verticals, including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, financial services, retail and others. “A pretty good distribution,” Stepnoski said.
VMware vCloud Accelerator and VMware vCloud Jumpstart services are available now through VMware Professional Services, Stepnoski said.