In this episode, Chris is in conversation with Jeb Horton, SVP Global Services at Hitachi Vantara, discussing the capabilities of Hitachi Vantara’s Global Services offerings, which deliver infrastructure management and infrastructure as a service to its customers.

In addition to EverFlex, Hitachi Vantara has a long history of managed services capabilities that span more than just outsourced storage. As Jeb explains, the company also manages storage infrastructure from other vendors, in addition to non-storage systems.

The interesting aspect of this discussion is the complex nature of the interaction between customers and Hitachi. Solutions offerings aren’t merely “transactional”, but have a human aspect and are tailored to meeting the specific goals of the customer. This conversation explores some of the nuances of working with customers to transfer the burden of infrastructure management to Hitachi, enabling businesses to focus on more strategic opportunities.

To learn more about Hitachi Vantara check out the Infrastructure as a Service section on the Hitachi website – https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/services/infrastructure-as-a-service.

Elapsed Time: 00:48:02

• 
  
• 00:00:00 – Intros
  
• 00:01:43 – What is “Infrastructure as a Service”?
  
• 00:03:25 – What else to customers want from a service (other than cost saving)?
  
• 00:05:20 – Public cloud has increased the appetite for service-based consumption
  
• 00:06:24 – What is the core of the Hitachi Vantara services offering?
  
• 00:07:14 – Hitachi added automation into a “services platform”
  
• 00:10:26 – The human aspect involves skills but also relationships
  
• 00:12:20 – A service contract involves a detailed commercial model
  
• 00:13:51 – Service also means service levels and agreements
  
• 00:16:53 – Cloud is transactional, what is Hitachi’s “value add”?
  
• 00:19:45 – Data has value, which is the focus of service offerings
  
• 00:22:26 – How does Hitachi help government institutions?
  
• 00:26:50 – What sort of data issues does Hitachi deal with?
  
• 00:28:33 – Data and AI will be a key issue to manage
  
• 00:30:40 – How does the engagement process work with Hitachi (and what is EverFlex)?
  
• 00:37:15 – What are real-world examples of Hitachi customers and requirements?
  
• 00:46:51 – Wrap Up
  

• 
  
• Hitachi Vantara Microsite
  
• Storage Unpacked 260 – Hitachi VSP One Updates with Dan McConnell
  
• Storage Unpacked 254 – Announcing VSP One and Hitachi Vantara Reorganisation
  

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