Channel partner programs, CSPs

Virtustream vs Amazon AWS Cloud Services

How is Virtustream -- the public cloud provider owned by EMC Corp. -- different from Amazon Web Services? That's a critically important question, especially as Virtustream ramps up new storage cloud services. And as Dell strives to finalize its $67 billion buyout of EMC. Yes, the pending deal includes Virtustream.

So how is Virtustream unique in the crowded cloud market? CEO Rodney Rogers, in the video below, describes how his company differentiates from AWS and other public clouds:

Also, Rogers describes how Virtustream -- part of the EMC Federation -- continues to innovate on SaaS support even as ISVs like SAP now have their own clouds. Rogers also discusses Virtustream's channel partner and service provider strategy. Note: ChannelE2E posed the questions and recorded Rogers' answers during EMC World 2016.

Virtustream Customer Case Study: Florida Crystals

True believers in the Virustream strategy include Florida Crystals, America’s first and only producer of certified organic sugar, grown and harvested in the United States.

Florida Crystals CIO Don Whittington describes his company's decision to run SAP on Virtustream in the video below:

Video link

EMC's Big Virustream Bet

EMC acquired Virustream for $1.2 billion in 2015. Throughout EMC World 2016, EMC positioned Virtustream as a mission-critical cloud services provider that can run the world's most demanding business applications. Virustream also wraps a range of managed services around its cloud offerings -- striving to give customers deeper application know-how than rivals can offer.

At the same time, Virustream is diversifying beyond cloud-based applications toward areas like storage. The new Virtustream Storage Cloud is positioned as an extension to EMC's on-premises storage gear, much in the way that Apple iCloud offers services to Apple's devices.

The stakes are high for EMC and Virtustream. Indeed, Amazon and Microsoft Azure increasingly are viewed as the dominant public cloud providers. With Virtustream, EMC hopes to shift the enterprise cloud conversation toward mission-critical applications.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.