HDS applies cloud utility model to in-house storage

Stephen Withers
Friday, 06 August 2010 17:31

One of the benefits of cloud computing is that it scales up and down according to need. Hitachi Data Systems says that can even work with private clouds.

According to Miki Sandorfi, chief cloud strategist at Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), an important attraction of cloud computing is the idea of delivering IT on a just-in-time, pay-per-use basis. This allows the alignment of IT resources with business needs.

As a storage company, HDS naturally sees enterprise data storage as a core aspect of virtualisation and of cloud more generally. But perhaps unlike some of its competitors, the company thinks storage should be deployed or a pay-per-use basis where appropriate.

"Cloud is a process of revolution," said Sandorfi, pointing out that HDS storage products intended to support a private cloud can work with existing equipment from HDS and other vendors, rather than requiring the rip-and-replace strategy that he said is favoured by other vendors.

The company has technical and financial strategies that allow customers to scale up and down as necessary. Its 'managed services utility' model means that assets are deployed at the time of need, and only charged according to what's actually used.

Rather than the customer going through a detailed resource planning and acquisition process, HDS takes on the job of providing the storage. If it makes sense for HDS to temporarily over-provision, the customer still only pays for what's actually used.

What happens in the event that storage requirements fall? And what about hybrid clouds? Please read on.