Monday Morning Impact – December 11

Study: Partner Assistance Key to Successful Business Transformation

Companies are increasingly turning to purpose-built cloud migration platforms and proven partners to help them navigate the entire cloud migration lifecycle, according to a recent survey commissioned by Velostrata, a San Mateo, California-based company specializing in accelerated cloud migration and mobility.

According to the survey conducted by Dimensional Research, almost half of all cloud migration projects were more difficult than expected, ran over budget and past deadline. As a result, companies are increasingly seeking ways to reduce risks in their cloud migrations through an ecosystem of experienced partners.

The survey showed that more than 50% of companies are now relying on the expertise of technology partners during their cloud migration projects, primarily due to a lack of in-house expertise. Particular areas of assistance include planning and strategy, application discovery, and execution of the migration.

Approximately 89% of survey respondents say they are satisfied with the expertise their partners are providing.

The study, conducted by Dimensional Research, is based on a survey of 208 IT professionals conducted in August and September of this year.

Channel Impact^®
The survey results demonstrate a solid opportunity for VARs, integrators, MSPs and other channel partners equipped to deal with the full range of migration issues and components. Partners can play an increasing role in customer’s cloud migrations which, as the study shows, also continues to grow, with over 96% of respondents reporting a cloud migration initiative underway, or planned.

Fortinet Expands Fabric-Ready Program with Amazon Web Services

Fortinet has announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has joined the Fortinet Fabric-Ready Partner Program, and the companies are expanding their collaboration to deliver new cybersecurity solutions on AWS.

Fortinet solutions that integrate with AWS include endpoint, network, web and email security, as well as cloud sandboxing, SIEM and log analytics. Customers or channel partners can control the technologies, download updates, and renew licenses from a single security management console.

As part of the Fabric-Ready Partner Program, AWS and Fortinet will focus on technology integration with the Security Fabric, share best practices regarding interoperability, and collaborate for the benefit of customers.

“Cloud infrastructure has become a critical element of enterprise networks today, as it allows organizations to scale and innovate with on-demand resources,” said John Maddison, senior vice president of Products and Solutions at Fortinet. “Enabling visibility and centralized control is crucial to protect enterprise applications as they move across multi-cloud networks, from hybrid architecture to cloud environments. With AWS joining the Fortinet Fabric-Ready Partner Program, we are building on our existing relationship to enable cloud security that arms our joint customers with integrated, flexible and secure access to the cloud.”

“By collaborating with Fortinet, we give our customers an additional option when selecting their security solutions,” said David Wright, general manager of Worldwide Strategic Technology Partners at AWS. “Our customers can now benefit from a robust set of integrated security capabilities built around open APIs for infrastructure flexibility, control, and end-to-end visibility.”

Fortinet also announced an extension of its cloud security applications portfolio in AWS to include FortiSandbox and FortiSIEM on the AWS Marketplace.

Channel Impact^®
Enterprises are migrating towards infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) to take advantage of increased flexibility, reliability, and scalability. The extension of the alliance between these two companies complements AWS services with advanced security management, intelligence correlation, compliance guidance and reporting.

HPE Expands “Pay-Per-Use IT” to Key Business Workloads

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced the launch of HPE GreenLake, a suite of pay-per-use solutions available for top customer workloads. As part of the same announcement, HPE is also rebranding and making enhancements to HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity, the company’s infrastructure consumption service.

Solutions include Big Data, based on HPE technology and Hortonworks or Cloudera software; on-premises backup capacity using Commvault software pre-integrated on HPE metering technology and management services; Database with EDB Postgres delivered on-premises and built on open source technology; SAP HANA, which offers an on-premises appliance with the right-sized, SAP-certified hardware, operating system, and services; and Edge Compute, which provides an end-to-end lifecycle framework. Advisory and professional services are also available, as well as purpose-built reference architectures.

The company is also announcing enhancements to HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity service, including modular, pre-packaged infrastructure choices, and expanded technology choices such as high-performance computing (HPC), Microsoft Azure Stack, and HPE SimpliVity.

Channel Impact^®
The shift to consumption and “everything-as-a-service” accelerates businesses, but often with the loss of control for IT. This value proposition is expected to simplify the customer experience by providing choice and flexibility in where workloads live and how customers consume them.