Hybrid Cloud Management

As enterprises adopt cloud technology, internal teams often prefer different cloud options that are aligned with their needs and objectives. Some lobby for the highly elastic infrastructure of public clouds, which can enable rapid application development, significant cost savings and access to next-generation, cloud-native technologies like real-time cloud analytics, blockchain and serverless computing. Other teams prefer a private cloud infrastructure to accommodate applications with specific latency requirements, to satisfy security and compliance needs, or to fulfill location requirements related to data sovereignty regulations. 

The inevitable result of this on-premise vs cloud debate is that organizations frequently adopt multiple public cloud solutions and while also investing in private cloud infrastructure, creating a multicloud environment that is intended to meet all needs. Ideally, this multicloud model should allow applications to run on the cloud that is ideally suited to the needs of the workload, increasing performance and reducing costs. 

But every cloud solution has its own set of tools and processes, requiring different skillsets and training. As administrators toggle back and forth between cloud platforms, the enterprise can experience a loss of productivity, additional management costs and greater exposure to risk. 

To continue to reap the benefits of multicloud environments, organizations need a solution that can provide a more consistent hybrid cloud management and operational experience. That’s where APEX can help. 

APEX uses the power of the Dell infrastructure to make hybrid cloud environments easier to manage. With a robust hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) platform, a cloud management/orchestration tool and full stack integration, this offering from Dell Technologies vastly simplifies deployment and lifecycle management of hybrid cloud deployments.

With APEX, enterprises can:

• Bring consistency to hybrid cloud management. APEX provides a common management experience to help lower overhead and simplify cloud processes.
• Accelerate innovation with flexible cloud solutions. Enterprises can protect their investment in cloud infrastructure with adaptable hybrid cloud solutions that meet evolving business needs.
• Build on reliable and secure infrastructure. As the world’s #1 cloud infrastructure provider, Dell Technologies delivers industry-leading enterprise-grade hardware.
• Move with greater agility. Enterprises can embrace new cloud computing services and operating models by avoiding prolonged and costly re-platforming efforts as they move to the cloud.

APEX comprises a suite of solutions that include:

• VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail. This platform is a fully integrated turnkey solution that represents the simplest path to a hybrid cloud model with automated infrastructure. With a complete portfolio of storage and data protection solutions as well as consulting, deployment and financial services, the APEX platform makes it easy to run, manage, automate and secure an application portfolio across multiple clouds.
• APEX Validated Designs. Best-of-breed Dell infrastructure delivered as pre-tested designs enables organizations to meet the varied demands of workloads by building their own hybrid cloud infrastructure.
• VMware Cloud on Dell. This fully managed Data Center-as-a-Service solution offers the simplicity and agility of the public cloud with infrastructure installed in data center and edge locations.
• Partner clouds. APEX provides a seamless hybrid cloud experience that can be extended to more than 4,200 cloud partners, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

What is hybrid cloud computing?

A hybrid cloud is a cloud architecture that combines two or more distinct public or private clouds that are connected by standardized or proprietary technology. A hybrid cloud relies on a set of common tools that can orchestrate workloads between platforms to enable data and application portability such as cloud bursting or load-balancing.

What are the challenges of hybrid clouds?

While the goal of hybrid cloud computing is to simplify operation of multiple cloud environments, managing multiple public and private cloud solutions can nevertheless be quite complicated. Each cloud platform typically comes with its own set of tools and processes, creating a somewhat chaotic management experience.

How does APEX simplify hybrid cloud management? 

APEX combines the expertise of VMware software with the reliability of Dell Technologies hardware to provide a consistent management experience across all clouds, significantly simplifying operations and infrastructure for hybrid cloud environments.