New channel product aims to undercut shared storage market Atlantis is taking a novel approach to the mid-market storage market, offering a low-cost appliance-led all flash storage device which uses its software on top of standardised hardware. It is all flash and aiming to be 50%- 90% the cost of traditional shared storage. It seems to be targeting EMC and NetApp with its cost comparisons.
Atlantis runs on specific hardware solutions based on Lenovo, Cisco, HP and Supermicro – running hypervisors Vmware and Citrix XenServer. The message is all about scalability and being below the cost of traditional shared storage, and giving customers new option in data centres.
CEO Chetan Venkatesh (below) says it has thought hard about this: “Typically in enterprise space; they want scale and flexibility; our product is 100% software with lots of ways to deploy, and integration options. Typically when we look at mid-market – customers don't have large internal teams, so it needs to be simplified, with external delivery and services. [They are] looking for a simple performance appliance to just turn on and run.”
With hyperconverged products like this, channel strategy is obviously vital; Atlantis uses a 100 % channel business in Europe. “Hyperscale is the core software but with a different delivery method – very turnkey – an installer with a memory stick to setup and run the hardware.” It is very specific on the bill of materials, however, and no changes are possible. The Atlantis layer does the de-duplication and acceleration of the I/O - “ we can optimise the data has it goes through, providing the best benefits.”
A full API is used for further integration and management. 12Tb and 24TB versions are available, all with the same capabilities and internals – memory etc which are the same irrespective of hardware vendor.
It is all flash with no choice on storage, but perhaps this doesn't matter with a price that is competitive against any other storage. “Another key thing is that Atlantis provides 24x7 support. Customer doesn't call partner, but Atlantis. We have run a beta and worked with channel which is still involved for delivery and building and supply; the feedback has been positive.”
The programme is designed for the channel, but first line support direct? Is the channel worried by this customer connection? “It would be true in the large enterprise space with more complex deals, but here it is simple for them to build a run-rate sales around the technology. It is a true partnership. It is all about building trust with the channel; we have chosen to go with them rather than through the hardware vendors,” is his reponse.
Channels can sell their own hardware, so a Cisco partner can sell Cisco-based solutions with an Atlantis layer on top. The options of VMware and XenServer avoids vendor lock-in, he suggests. Microsoft HyperV is not an option yet but he admits he is being asked more and more about Hyper-V support.
Finally, he says, the margins are attractive to the channel, even though the end user pricing is low.
IT Europa says:
As data center customers tackle unprecedented levels of infrastructure complexity, emerging technologies such as hyperconverged platforms are taking centre stage as effective alternatives to stand-alone hardware and traditional converged systems. In turn, those markets stand to lose share to hyperconverged platforms from a wide — and growing — roster of vendors. Technology Business Research's Q12015 Hyperconverged Platforms Market Landscape estimates the global hyperconverged platforms market will grow at a five-year CAGR of 71.6% from 2013 to 2018, compared to a five-year CAGR of 18.4% for the overall converged infrastructure market.
“Hyperconverged platforms, including both software and appliances, are changing the game for data centre hardware vendors,” said TBR Principal Analyst Christian Perry. “Customers want better control over their storage ecosystems, particularly as data stores grow. They want a more streamlined virtualisation experience. Hyperconverged is delivering on those requirements and displacing traditional, complex storage arrays.”
Over the last two years, hyperconverged vendors such as Nutanix, SimpliVity, Scale Computing, Nimboxx, Maxta, Pivot3, Gridstore and Atlantis gained recognition among customers and share from major storage OEMs due to their unique technology. But pure plays are now joined by hardware OEMs, which are developing their hyperconverged appliances and allying with software platform developers. For example, Dell partnered with Nutanix in June 2014 and Cisco partnered with SimpliVity in August 2014. Furthermore, Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, HDS, HP, NetApp, SuperMicro, Net One and Inspur joined VMware’s EVO:RAIL partner ecosystem to offer EVO:RAIL appliances.
Over the next five years, organizations will deploy hyperconverged solutions for a wider variety of workloads. The target use cases for hyperconverged platforms will expand from virtualized workloads to areas such as cloud, ERP, transactions and analytics, which will increasingly threaten the traditional disk and converged systems markets. Consequently, hyperconverged solutions will account for a larger share of the overall converged infrastructure market, increasing from 3.5% in 2014 to 11.5% in 2018, according to TBR’s1Q15 Hyperconverged Platforms Market Landscape.
Competition in the global hyperconverged platforms market will remain intense as customers decide between niche vendors, such as Nutanix, SimpliVity and Scale Computing, and major OEMs, such as HP, Dell, Cisco and EMC. Hyperconverged platforms OEMs will invest heavily in portfolio development and use aggressive pricing to differentiate. Furthermore, TBR believes the hyperconverged platforms market is a prime target for acquisitions, as there are multiple companies with unique IP and major OEMs seek to establish leadership in the nascent hyperconverged platforms market.