In the world of IT solutions, we are very demanding. We expect the privacy and security of on premises, but we also want the scalability and power of public cloud, writes Hedley Potts, VP & GM, HPE Pointnext Services, UK&I.
We want both, but only if and when we need them – no one wants to invest in huge capabilities only to see their strategy shift and have their budget tied up in unused IT. Similarly though, it’s a CIO’s nightmare to have skilled people in the team wasting their time on slow and complicated legacy infrastructure, or not having the IT capabilities to achieve potential. Ideally, we’d like a scalable, flexible, powerful infrastructure, with privacy and control held in our hands, but capabilities out of this world. Oh, and we’d only like to pay for it if and when we use it!
This is what CIOs and CTOs now want…And you know what? They’re right. Enter the consumption-based IT model of infrastructure that joins seamlessly to the cloud.
Businesses that want to stay relevant in today’s world should see it as only natural to know what their customers want and to strive to deliver it. HPE’s conclusion to the desire for more, but also less, was to help our customers move from their previous IT models by introducing a pay-per-use model to the changing landscape of IT.
Consumption-Based IT: Why HPE “Put Wheels” On its Suite of Offerings
Called HPE GreenLake, it didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it put wheels on the company’s suite of offerings , making it easy for customers to take as much -or as little- as they wanted. GreenLake was the first consumption-based, choice-centric offering to market, and almost a decade after becoming first available, it is being described as ‘revolutionary’ by HPE partners.
The consumption-based model of infrastructure and its interplay with cloud is gaining a lot of momentum now. At HPE, we have been championing the market for six years, but as other big players like Cisco, Lenovo and Dell join the party, the credibility to this market demand is gaining some serious elevation. We’re watching the launches of Dell and co’s rival products with interest, but we’re confident our head start gives us, and our GreenLake product, an advantage which will not be caught up. Of course it makes me a little nervous, as these guys try to catch up, but it’s good to know we’re still absolutely in the lead.
Looking at the numbers in the market, and our lead is obvious. Customer acceptance has been gratifying and we have $2.4B under contract. Our near-decade long experience in the consumption based model has given us a huge advantage in the form of a wealth of experience and input from customers. This has enabled us to build the choices, tools, ecosystem, and the expertise to deliver IT-as-a-service at scale globally. As more enterprise IT consumers realise the value and availability of such a model, we are seeing our client base grow fast – with a yearly growth of 45%. We currently have over 600 global enterprise customers with a retention rate close to 100%. Stories of GreenLake’s high customer satisfaction are spreading, and now over 100 HPE channel partners are moving their customers to the model, growing our revenue through the channel by about 300% annually.
How Does Consumption-Based IT Work?
So how does the consumption-based model work? It brings together the performance and security of on-premises infrastructure with the agility and affordability of public cloud. The whole range of tech and services offered by HPE -and our ecosystem- are available in on-prem infrastructure. But the most important factor is the metering method – it’s set up to bypass the often-costly need to guess deploy capacity. Instead, running workloads are measured and customers pay by the unit (of measurement). This IT simplification affords users more time, generating an increase in IT team productivity by 40%. It also significantly reduces costs by eliminating over provisioning- on average, savings are about 30% on TCO. The consumption based model is optimized for the varying workloads that are deployed on it – giving customers complete choice through on-demand capacity.
So on-prem advantages are promising, but this doesn’t mean they should replace public cloud. As hybrid IT emerges as the new norm for enterprise IT, customers expect a seamless common experience across on- and off-premises IT, with the advantages of both. Regardless of where the IT is running, a consumption-based model allows customers to consume what they need, without the heavy lifting. Control is kept within the customer’s hands, so everything from cost to compliance is covered across the whole hybrid cloud estate.
There are three main scenarios when consumption based hybrid cloud is without doubt the right fit:
- When you want to pay only for what you use – foregoing long and costly commitments.
- When you need to keep control of your data on-premises.
- When you have workloads that could expand and require public cloud.
If -like most enterprise IT departments- you fit into one of those categories, here are a few things to consider when making the switch:
- Does the offer provide faster time-to-value? Is the solution completely functional and capable of scaling ahead of demand?
- What are you paying for? It should only be what you use- what metering tool is being used? This is critical.
- Are you simplifying? How many partners will you have to deal with (think about optimization, operations and support)?
- Do you have complete control?
Once you find the offer that satisfies those criteria, it should make your IT simple, while alleviating any concerns you have about costs, flexibility, and control.
Built-in flexibility means you will be covered, but not financially punished, for your expansion and shifting initiatives. The consumption-based model of infrastructure and hybrid IT answer the high demands of modern enterprise IT. It’s like having your cake and eating it…or not eating it…then only paying for the bit you ate.
See also: Why the Aston Martin Red Bull F1 Team Eschews the Cloud and Chooses Hyperconvergence
