New EMC VSPEX Labs – Validation Has Its Privileges

In April 2012 EMC launched VSPEX Proven Infrastructure solutions to help customers accelerate their journey to the cloud by delivering simple, efficient and flexible reference architectures based on best of breed components. We’ve now seen that 1,300 VSPEX solutions have been sold in less than nine months in over 40 countries!VSPEX 1300

What’s next? Today we are happy to announce VSPEX Labs, which allows our partners to build their own solution stacks that can be tested as a “VSPEX Labs Validated Solution.”

VSPEX Labs is a one-of-a-kind collaborative environment. It makes physical VSPEX stacks accessible for software and hardware vendors to rigorously test and validate the performance of their technology, and then document how to deploy their technology as part of a VSPEX solution. Once partners successfully complete the testing process it becomes “VSPEX Labs Validated.”

And, we’re already well underway… 

In January we announced VSPEX for virtualized SharePoint and we almost immediately vspex-webbegan working with Metalogix, whose technology externalizes SharePoint BLOB Data to improve performance and scalability. Now, EMC is working with several partners to test their new configurations. We invited an initial group of leading providers of management and orchestration technology – Aptare, Cisco Cloupia, Egenera, fluidOps, and Vistara – to deliver a rich set of management and orchestration options for VSPEX enabling customers to choose the management platform that works best for them. You can see one example in this video from Cloupia, which was recently acquired by Cisco, demonstrating its management software for VSPEX.

As you heard from Cloupia, Cisco provides validated designs for VSPEX solutions built on Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) infrastructure architecture. Cisco Cloupia now supports the full range of VSPEX configurations with its unified infrastructure management solution, including validation and certification for EMC VNX unified storage systems.

Customers are benefiting from VSPEX through faster deployment times and lower operational cost, while maintaining control and choice in the components they use to power their data center. And what we learned from our partners is that VSPEX has been used to do a number of different things – but don’t take our word for it – take the words of the customers themselves by clicking on the images below to view video:

Weltman_Weinberg_Reis_Dave_Miller

Minor_Weir_Willis_Rajinder_Gill

Seventh Day

Our Velocity reseller partners have also seen tremendous success – with VSPEX they’re able to meet the needs of their customers while simplifying sales and speeding deployment times. Ten of these VSPEX partners from around the world were recently showcased a CRN slide show sharing their own stories and accomplishments. I’d encourage you to hear firsthand how four of these partners are leveraging the power of VSPEX solutions:

Datalink_John_Tietjen

MIT_Technology_Richard_Flanders

Nexus_IS_Steve_Rogers

Now back to my opening data point of 1,300 VSPEX solution being sold in less than nine months—in over 40 countries… How is that possible? First, you design and prove a solution that’s simple and fast to deploy. Then you empower channel partners to take the solution out to customers.

Our news today of VSPEX Labs Validated Solutions takes our VSPEX solution to the next level for our partners.

All VSPEX Labs Validated Solutions will be available in the EMC Solutions Gallery. Check in regularly to see how the VSPEX solution set continues to expand.

VSPEX is designed for partners – so please, tell us what you would like to see next out of VSPEX in the comments section below or tweet them @EMCVSPEX.

About the Author: Josh Kahn