Fujitsu Touts Benefits Of Converged Infrastructure To Cloud-Shy Firms

Fujitsu says its new PrimeFlex range of converged systems will help businesses quickly and simply take advantage of the latest data centre technologies and provide organisations who can’t migrate to the cloud with some of the benefits of off-premise technology.

PrimeFlex comprises 20 systems and reference architectures that have been pre-tested for certain workloads and can be rapidly deployed as businesses expand. The systems have server, storage and connectivity with software and management layers on top and can be used for both Fujitsu cloud services and products from other vendors.

These include Microsoft, SAP and VMware’s EVO:RAIL hyper-converged infrastructure platform that makes it easy for businesses to deploy virtualised machines. One new product announced at the Fujitsu Forum in Munich this week is PrimeFlex for Hadoop, which helps business analyse big data.

Fujitsu PrimeFlex

Fujitsu Forum 2014 (2)Fujitsu says this epitomises the benefits of PrimeFlex as it combines pre-tested hardware for convenience, the economic advantages of open source software and system support and lifecycle management.

Converged infrastructure systems have often been dubbed ‘data centres in a box’ but Fujitsu CTO Joseph Reger says this is not accurate term and prefers to describe them as the building blocks for companies that want to quickly create a data centre.

“The key is to have these building blocks that are pre-integrated and pre-tested,” he told the audience in Munich adding that many businesses, such as those in the banking sector, cannot migrate many processes to the cloud, while others are bound by security and geographical restrictions.

Open source support

“They respond to a very particular need in the market”, he said. “For those who can’t migrate to the cloud, what equipment should they be using? The answer is the same as service providers so they can enjoy some of the economics of scale.”

Reger outlined his support for open source technologies declaring its use can reduce cost, increase security and customisation, and avoid vendor lock-in. Open technology, he said, presents an opportunity for Fujitsu to sell services and differentiate with software if it can’t with hardware, citing Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) as examples.

“In general in the European market, open source is becoming more and more popular,” he explained. “There’s always a services opportunity. Some might argue that’s the only way to make money from open source.

“If we can’t differentiate with the product, we can with the services.”

How well do you know VMware? Take our quiz!

Steve McCaskill

Steve McCaskill is editor of TechWeekEurope and ChannelBiz. He joined as a reporter in 2011 and covers all areas of IT, with a particular interest in telecommunications, mobile and networking, along with sports technology.

Recent Posts

TSMC Denies Talks With Intel Over Chipmaking Joint Venture

Denial from TSMC, after multiple reports it was in talks with Intel over a joint…

3 days ago

Apple iPhone Shipments In China Slide, As Cook Talks With Trump Official

CEO Tim Cook talks to Trump official, as IDC notes China's smartphone market growth, and…

3 days ago

AMD Warns Of $800m Charge From US Chip Restrictions On China

Another big name chip maker expects a hefty financial charge, after the US tightened rules…

3 days ago

Google Digital Ad Network Ruled Illegal Monopoly By Judge

More bad news for Google. Second time in less than a year that some part…

3 days ago

US State Dept Closes Office Flagging Russia, China Disinformation

Federal office that tackled misinformation and disinformation from hostile nations is closed down, after criticism…

3 days ago

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Makes Surprise Visit To China

After Nvidia admits it will take $5.5 billion charge as Trump export limits of slower…

3 days ago