Fujitsu is extending its partnership with NetApp as part of its mission to enable Fujitsu's Cloud Service K5 Public and Virtual Private Cloud customers to take an important step towards compliance with legislation, related to data storage.
By extending its long-standing collaboration with NetApp, Fujitsu is providing Cloud Service K5 customers with dedicated private storage on public cloud systems. The Fujitsu Hybrid Storage solution is based on the NetApp Private Storage offering hosted in Fujitsu's global data centers.
Public cloud services are suitable for cost-conscious customers, since they typically use pooled, shared resources to drive down operational costs – while virtual private cloud users can select dedicated compute and networking functions, but share management and storage. However, customers have little or no control over where their data is stored, and face compliance issues for sensitive data as there is a risk their data may be transferred to another geography, without their knowledge.
Thanks to the deployment of Fujitsu Hybrid Storage in Fujitsu's global network of Cloud Service K5 data centers located in multiple regions, as well as in hosted and on-premises data centers – Fujitsu cloud customers benefit not only from local data residency but also can still take advantage of the cost benefits of public shared cloud services, with the peace of mind that their data is in a known, controlled location.
Conway Kosi, SVP and Head of Managed Infrastructure Services at Fujitsu EMEIA said, "a recent study we undertook showed that business leaders are very concerned about compliance – in fact 59 percent see it as their greatest concern. The penalties of failure are high, but the ever-growing complexity of enterprises' hybrid IT environments makes keeping on top of data management challenging. We are teaming up with NetApp to tame the data compliance beast – providing a single view and control of where data is located, its movement, and of who has access."
The availability of Fujitsu Hybrid Storage as an option for Fujitsu's Cloud Service K5 customers also provides new opportunities for enterprises that operate complex multi-cloud environments including popular services from providers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle. Today, companies are generally required to maintain a separate storage system for each private cloud deployment. This complexity makes it extremely challenging to understand and manage customer data ahead of the rapidly-approaching EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) readiness deadline of May 2018.
Anthony Lye, Senior Vice President, Cloud Business Unit, NetApp added, "data is the lifeblood of transforming businesses, and, in a world where organisations must manage larger volumes of diverse, dynamic, distributed data, the NetApp Data Fabric offers a significant, competitive advantage. The combination of NetApp Private Storage with Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 helps customers unleash the power of data to capitalise on opportunities in the digitally transformed world."