Virtustream recently announced xStream 2.0, a highly secure, high performance enterprise-class cloud solution for private, virtual private, public and hybrid clouds.  To find out more about this product launch, I spoke with Simon Aspinall, Virtustream's chief marketing officer (CMO).

VMblog:  Let's start by telling us what separates Virtustream from other cloud service providers, if you don't mind.  

Simon Aspinall:  Virtustream is the leading enterprise-class cloud solution provider, specializing in moving complex enterprise IT environments to the cloud. Virtustream offers xStream, a highly secure, high performance enterprise-class cloud solution for private, virtual private, hybrid and public clouds. xStream 2.0 includes Virtustream µVM (Micro-VM) technology, a first in its class technology that allows for consumption based pricing in that customers pay only for the resources used.

In addition, Virtustream's µVM technology enables up to 30% economics benefits beyond virtualization, with enterprise class SLAs and up to 50% faster response times - across the entire solution, with a single management tool.

Today customers choose from three main types of cloud: public, private, virtual private, and have a broad choice of suppliers to choose from. Our enterprise cloud offer is unique. We provide customers with a tailored hybrid solution to match their complex enterprise IT environment.

Private Cloud (management) at their own site (using xStream software or as a managed service from Virtustream)

• Virtual Private Cloud, as a managed service from the Virtustream cloud - and looking forward from a secure community of other VPC and public clouds
• Hybrid solutions combining private and public clouds to match the customer's business needs
  

VMblog:  xStream seems unique in that it lets customers combine private and public clouds into hybrid clouds.  Explain why this would be advantageous to companies.

Aspinall:  Companies run many applications and many different types of software with varying demand. Ideal solutions combine onsite IT with a private cloud and hybrid connection to a public/virtual private cloud for dynamic demand. Enterprises are beginning to discover the versatility afforded by a hybrid cloud solution. Many companies have complex legacy applications and/or they wish to maintain their traditional data center environments while also "test driving" cloud services. Others want cloud backup and disaster recovery. Some wish to move large elements of their IT to the cloud. The hybrid approach provides the needed flexibility to these enterprise customers, enabling them to choose what is right for their business and, just as important, adopt at their own pace.

VMblog:  How does xStream 2.0 and its Virtustream µVM (Micro-VM) technology enable customers to reduce costs?  And why is consumption based pricing important?

Aspinall:  Most enterprises make a move to the cloud in an effort to benefit from the cloud's promise of scalability, dynamic services and cost efficiency. But today, most public clouds offer only fixed size virtual machines. µVMs dynamically combine compute + memory + network + storage in a small cloud element, which is used to delivery efficiency beyond traditional virtualization and to guarantee cloud application performance. Using µVMs enables businesses to consume far fewer resources and more efficiently scale their business, and to pay only for what they use, not what they may need once. A typical approach to cloud adoption is for the business to secure enough cloud resource to meet its peak demand usually in the form of VMs. This means they pay for unused resources in non-peak times. They have in essence built in the same inefficiencies that they had in a physical environment or even a VM based virtualized environment.

Virtustream offers the first consumption-based cloud pricing model via its µVM technology. On the xStream platform, enterprises are only charged for the resources actually used, thus maximizing their savings.

VMblog:  This new version of the xStream platform is said to offer enhanced security features.  Tell us how xStream 2.0 bolsters protection.

Aspinall:  With security issues ranking in the top three cloud computing concerns, we understand the importance of providing our customers with the best protection possible. Deep multi-layered enterprise grade security is built into the xStream platform. Enhancements in xStream 2.0 offer the latest in multi-layered enterprise grade security and compliance including federated identity (IDN) sign-on and continuous auditing capabilities that can meet the highest security certifications such as NIST 800-53 (Federal), DIACAP, ICD503 (Defense), FISMA (Government), G-Cloud (U.K. Government), SSAE16 (Audit), ISO27001 (Service), HIPAA (Healthcare), PCI (e-commerce), SAS70 (Audit), ODCA and other industry standards

VMblog:  xStream 2.0 is available as software, as a stand-alone appliance and as a managed service. What are the benefits of providing customers with this kind of flexibility?

Aspinall:  It comes down to versatility. If customers decide to operate their cloud solution in-house, then they are in control of the platform. Some customers prefer software for use on existing equipment, others want stand-alone appliances. Alternately customers elect to have the Virtustream cloud host their mission-critical workloads and benefit from the economies of skill and scale from managed cloud services. Or they can do both. What makes hybrid cloud solution so attractive is the many options available and the ability to design a solution that best suits the individual needs of a business.

VMblog:  What advice would you give companies that are interested in moving legacy applications to the cloud?

Aspinall:  Enterprises need to take a look at their traditional applications and consider the benefits they would reap by moving them to the cloud. While Enterprise applications are extremely powerful and can drive entire organizations, they are also multifaceted and complex, often requiring dedicated hardware and complex provisioning and maintenance. Cloud technology for the enterprise enables the migration of mission-critical, legacy applications, like SAP/Microsoft/Oracle, to the cloud without rewriting the software. This gives legacy software the economic and scale advantages of the cloud - but with guaranteed application performance and simplified operations. This is why a cloud solution can be the ideal scenario for the complex enterprise compute topography that is inherent to these enterprise applications, such as SAP.

VMblog:  With so many cloud platforms available on the market today, how do you see the future of cloud computing unfolding?

Aspinall:  We're now seeing cloud solutions tailored to types of customer: enterprise, SMB and even by vertical sector. As the cloud continues to evolve, we are seeing an increasing interest in hybrid clouds to combine the benefits of private and public cloud. I think the next evolution beyond hybrid clouds will be communities of clouds within sectors, or geographies. Groups of similar businesses, for example a number of Universities may wish to share compute resources between a number of campuses using the trusted and secure networks like internet2 in the U.S. or JANET in the U.K. as some early examples.

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Thanks again to Simon Aspinall, CMO of Virtustream, for taking time to speak with VMblog and answer a few questions.