Fujitsu Integrates NetApp Storage Within Hybrid Storage Solution

Fujitsu Limited enables its Cloud Service K5 public and virtual private cloud customers to take a step towards compliance with legislation related to storage, by partnering with NetApp, Inc. to provide a new capability to privately consolidate and store data from one or more public clouds, in the location of their choice.

By extending its long-standing collaboration with NetApp, Fujitsu is providing Cloud Service K5 customers with dedicated private storage on public cloud systems. Fujitsu hybrid storage solution is based on the NetApp private storage offering hosted in Fujitsu’s global data centers.

Public cloud services are 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 company’s global network of Cloud Service K5 data centers located in multiple regions, as well as in hosted and on-premises data centers, cloud customers benefit from local data residency and 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.

The availability of Fujitsu hybrid storage as an option for Cloud Service K5 customers also provides new opportunities for enterprises that operate complex multi-cloud environments including 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 challenging to understand and manage customer data ahead of the rapidly-approaching EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) readiness deadline of May 2018.

Effective data governance and protection in multi-cloud environments
By consolidating multi-cloud data to a single, private hybrid storage system within a Cloud Service K5 data center, customers can better ensure effective data governance and protection. Furthermore, the catalog manager in Fujitsu Cloud Service Manager makes it easy to control and manage these multi-cloud environments – as well as hybrid IT infrastructures, where organizations are operating a mixture of on-premises and cloud-based systems.

Conway Kosi, SVP and head of managed infrastructure services, Fujitsu EMEIA, comments: “A recent study we undertook showed that business leaders are very concerned about compliance – in fact 59% 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.”

This latest enhancement to the Cloud Service K5 extends the NetApp Data Fabric to customers – providing them with visibility and insight, access and control, protection and security over their entire estate of cloud-based data, regardless of its origin – as well as providing a common language, uniform control mechanism and harmonized view.

“Data is the lifeblood of transforming businesses, and, in a world where organizations must manage larger volumes of diverse, dynamic, distributed data, the NetApp Data Fabric offers a significant, competitive advantage,” said Anthony Lye, SVP, cloud business unit, NetApp. “The combination of NetApp Private Storage with Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 helps customers unleash the power of data to capitalize on opportunities in the digitally transformed world.”

The private storage option is available in the EMEIA region for K5 customers.