We’re a few days out from NetApp’s annual Insight event, and I’ve been sitting with what I consider to be bold claims and somewhat abnormal announcements. There wasn’t an acquisition or new cloud solution that attacks a key customer workload announced (Microsoft, Citrix, many others), and there wasn’t a fancy new piece of hardware unveiled (Apple).

Instead, CEO George Kurian opens with a polarizing statement: “Your journey to the cloud is over.” This proclaims that customers - in some form or fashion - are already in the cloud, whether they believe themselves to be or not. Even if it’s just using Microsoft 365 or Google Workspaces, that’s a cloud decision and an Identity decision wrapped into one. You may not have every app or every workload in the cloud, but you’re there - and how much of it you’re taking advantage of is up to you. If you have SSO for either of those two, then you’re already in a hybrid cloud world and you may not even realize it. “Welcome”, he said, “to the evolved cloud.” George didn’t say this, but I will add it: how much your competitors are evolving with and taking advantage of the cloud is NOT up to you, but you don’t want to be left in the dust.

Managing this new, evolved cloud - like so much else - falls to already over-burdened IT staff. Mercifully, NetApp claims to deliver on the eternal promise of allowing admins to do more with less. This is where NetApp’s big unveiling raised eyebrows for me, in that it’s a commitment to just that as opposed to a new solution the customers will pay to use. Instead, George Kurian introduced Blue XP, the latest update to NetApp’s portfolio (a key point) that delivers on 4 primary pillars for success in the evolved cloud. Let’s break them down…

4 Big Pillars

• Simplicity

  • Blue XP promises one UI to manage both on-prem and cloud storage, as well as NetApp’s cloud portfolio - including Spot, Astra and more.

• Security

  • ONTAP updates combined with multiple security-focused solutions (Cloud Data Sense, Cloud Secure, Spot Security) puts a focus on an ever-present need.

• Savings

  • Introducing Spot into the Blue XP UI means that FinOps is in play, optimizing resource consumption via AI & ML. Combined with ONTAP’s storage efficiencies, savings is a clear focus of Blue XP.

• Sustainability

  • I admit, I’ve never seen this be a reason that a customer chooses one provider over another. However, I’m all for leaving a better world for our children. There was a compelling story here around 4:1 efficiencies with ONTAP and a tiering solution that offloaded cold data to a carbon neutral hyperscaler, reducing emission to the tune of 600k gallons of gas or 6M lbs of coal. That seems like a lot - if organizations are eligible for funding or if their industry holds them to some level or eco-accountability, this may be more compelling than I first realized.

Going Beyond the Announcement

As time has gone on, I’m convinced there are more underlying themes to Blue XP than were announced.

As I think about merging management consoles together - on-prem storage management and the Spot console, for example - I came to realize that Blue XP is expanding SSO by condensing capabilities into a single UI/solution. Similarly, merging things into that single UI makes it easier to be a NetApp partner. Which element/s of NetApp’s portfolio are you working with? It doesn’t matter - they’re a part of Blue XP now. Since more and more elements are part of Blue XP, the cost portability Blue XP offers (shifting spend from a commitment to one NetApp product to another) offers customers more and more choices.

On a similar front, the APIs for these portfolio elements are being merged into one set of APIs. Whether you’re a Systems Integrator partner or a smaller partner specializing in automating specific workflows, one single set of APIs is easier to work with.

Lastly, Blue XP is free of charge. The “but wait - one more thing” that’s become famous at annual industry conferences isn’t a new feature, but rather a concept. NetApp already has more cloud products and cover more workloads than their competitors, so while more would be welcome, a merged console with improved orchestration to bring everything together is also welcome.

Most importantly, these industry event announcements are always news related to an acquisition and/or long-term commitments. NetApp has already started merging elements into Blue XP, with a commitment to bring additional vital elements to the Blue XP UI. That commitment is what’s exciting to me, as a person who identifies with the “must do more with less” challenges of today. Sure, tell me where you’re going - but show me that the work to get there is already underway. Well, you can log into Blue XP and take an early tour of the evolved cloud today.