Capitalizing On The Momentum

Cisco Systems Thursday rolled out the most significant slew of updates to its HyperFlex hyper-converged infrastructure platform, positioning the system for the multi-cloud world, tightening integration with key software solutions and adding support for containers.

One of the key additions is support for Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor, which joins VMware's ESXi hypervisor in the HyperFlex stable. The HyperFlex strategy allows customers to run any application in any cloud and scale quickly and easily, now up to 64 nodes.

The enhancements also are a way for Cisco to capitalize on the momentum HyperFlex has gained in the market. HyperFlex had more than 2,000 customers as of last November, and Cisco expects to report a "significant bump" to that number when it discusses earnings next month, according to Todd Brannon, Cisco director of product marketing.

Scott Mohr, Cisco director of the data center cloud global partner organization, said HyperFlex is now poised for explosive growth, and the company has structured incentive programs around it that can provide partners with payouts reaching into the high-20 percent range.

Here are six key things partners should know about the latest version of HyperFlex.