EMC heads further into the cloud
Vendor unveils new cloud accreditations and channel initiatives at its EMC World event in Las Vegas
EMC has announced several new initiatives and offerings to propel its channel partners into the cloud.
Following on from the launch of EMC VSpex Proven Infrastructure in April, and its VMax Service Provider platform unveiled last week, the vendor took the wraps off its EMC Cloud Builder and Cloud Provider Practices and its EMC Co-operative Services.
The vendor made the announcements at its EMC World global conference in Las Vegas in front of more than 3,000 global channel partners.
Gregg Ambulos, senior vice president of global channel sales at EMC, said: "Cloud computing represents a huge market opportunity for EMC's partners. Our new Velocity Cloud Practices enable and support them in developing the expertise required to accelerate their clients' journey to the cloud.
"Today's announcement is another example of EMC's commitment to advancing our partners' skill sets, sales opportunities and differentiation in the market. We are 100 per cent focused on delivering to our Velocity partners the best technology and the most comprehensive and rewarding partner programme in the industry," he added.
Under the Solution Provider Practices umbrella, EMC's latest launch is a new designation within the EMC Velocity Solution Provider Programme that recognises and rewards advanced levels of capability among its partners.
Comprising the Cloud Builder Practice, which enables partners to design, build and manage cloud infrastructures based on EMC technology, it will be available in Q3 2012; and the Cloud Provider Practice (aimed at Velocity Solution Provider partners intending to design, build and operate their own branded IT-as-a-service offering on EMC technology), will be available in Q4 2012.
Benefits to partners that earn the designation include: marketing support; access to new EMC cloud solutions including storage-as-a-service; backup-as-a-service; Rapid Launch and Cloud Advisory; access to EMC's co-operative services that extend cloud offerings with health check and assessment services for customers; and access to the EMC Cloud Builder VSpecialist online community.
EMC described the announcements as a continuation of its journey to the cloud, following in the footsteps of its Velocity Service Provider programme launched in 2011 to jointly develop solutions and services with its service provider partners.
Partners that successfully complete the Cloud Provider designation requirements will automatically be included in the Velocity Service Provider Programme.
On a technology level, the vendor unveiled its VNXe3150 unified storage platform, an extension to its VNX family of unified storage offerings which are optimised for organisations building virtualised, private cloud environments. Available only through EMC's Velocity Solution Provider Partners or Authorised Resellers, the vendor claims the product offers 50 per cent more performance and capacity per rack unit.