Building IT Infrastructure that supports application workloads while also optimizing financial and operational goals is a constant challenge for organizations. And in our new normal, predicting storage needs has become increasingly unmanageable. When faced with limited human resources, it’s important for IT staff to be able to focus on higher value-added activities instead of just managing infrastructure. Ultimately, IT is demanding simpler and more agile solutions. While the public cloud can provide scalable, on-demand resources, many companies require the performance, security and control that comes with having their data on-premises.
Introducing APEX Data Storage Services
This is why Dell Technologies is excited to introduce APEX Data Storage Services. Now, organizations can enjoy the simplicity and agility benefits of public cloud, with enterprise-class data features and the control and security of being on-premises, in their own data center or colocation facility.
The adoption of as-a-Service consumption has been growing significantly. According to Gartner, “by 2025, more than 70% of corporate enterprise-grade storage capacity will be deployed as consumption-based service offerings, up from less than 40% in 2020.”¹ As the #1 provider of enterprise storage,² Dell Technologies has a proven track record of delivering powerful storage solutions backed by world-class support and services. Aligning to the shifting market, we are now giving customers more flexibility and choice in how they acquire and utilize these resources.
APEX Data Storage Services is an as-a-Service portfolio of scalable and elastic storage resources built on our industry-leading technologies and designed for OpEx treatment.³ With APEX Data Storage Services, IT organizations are able to consistently align expenses with usage, thereby saving money and eliminating risk. This is delivered as an incredibly simplified experience that is fast and reliable, with services that are designed for 99.9999% availability.4
“APEX Data Storage Services will enable us to address customer use cases in remote sites away from our core storage infrastructure,” said Andy Payne, Product Manager at Managed Hosting Sungard, “and will simplify and expediate the procurement process when we need to expand our customer storage.”
Coming soon, Dell’s joint work with Equinix will combine our global scale and leading technologies to empower customers to deploy APEX Data Storage Services wherever they need it with a consistent user experience. Equinix’s strategically located facilities enable secure, dynamic on-demand multi-cloud connectivity for customers that want to take advantage of public cloud compute with no cloud vendor lock-in.
Self-service and rapid time to value
With just a few simple inputs in the APEX Console, customers can easily order any capacity of block and file resources with options starting as low as 50TB. There are three tiers of performance to choose from for each service to address a variety of workloads. Once subscribed, a customer pays for their base usage and can use any additional amount above that base in an on-demand model, paying only for what they use. As their utilization grows and/or shrinks, their bill will do the same. The console makes it easy to track utilization and add capacity or additional services at any time. They also have the flexibility to increase performance as-needed throughout the term to adjust to unpredictable changes in the environment. Plus, we get them up and running quickly. The resources are installed on-premises in the customer’s data center or colo facility within a 14-day time to value (TTV) objective5 — from order to activation. The infrastructure is owned and managed by Dell Technologies and operated by the customer. So, IT staff can increase productivity and focus on delivering customer satisfaction as they no longer need to worry about things like forecasting, procurement, maintenance and upgrades or complex tech refresh cycles. For help moving data to get started on APEX Data Storage Services, we’ve also introduced new migration services.
Single rate transparency with no overage fees
Dell has taken a unique approach with its single rate pricing. With complex approaches we see from competitors, the user commits to a minimum base amount of storage and then pays a premium to use on-demand capacity above that base. APEX Data Storage Services provides the base and on-demand capacity at a single rate and there is no penalty for the flexibility of on-demand, elastic usage. As capacity needs grow, the base commitment can be raised at any point in the term resulting in a lower rate without extending the life of the contract. To ensure customers never run out of capacity, Dell maintains a ~25% buffer on site above utilization. Starting prices are available on our website. We believe in delivering customers a simplified and transparent experience. You shouldn’t have to pay surge pricing for your storage.
The on-demand services from APEX don’t stop at storage. We are offering a range of infrastructure services and are uniquely positioned to be able to deliver a broad portfolio with a consistent as-a-Service experience when and where you need it – all with just a few clicks.
To learn more, make sure to visit DellTechnologies.com/APEX-Storage and contact your Dell Technologies Sales Rep.
¹ Gartner, Enterprise Storage as a Service is Transforming IT Operating Models, Robert Preston, Jeff Vogel, March 2, 2021
² IDC WW Quarterly Enterprise Storage Systems Tracker, 2020 Q4 historical release, March 11, 2021. Ranking by vendor revenue.
³ OpEx treatment is subject to customer internal accounting review and policies
4 Based on hardware availability on common underlying platform configurations. Actual hardware availability may vary
5 TTV measured between order acceptance and activation. Subject to customer credit approval and site qualification, which must be completed before order placement, and customer participation in pre-deployment planning. Product availability, holidays and other factors may impact deployment time. US only.
