Ingram Micro on navigating the future of virtualization

• Panel with several industry leaders on the future of virtualization for IT businesses
• Reps from Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nutanix, Virtuozzo & Sangfor Technologies

Ingram Micro Malaysia hosted a panel discussion recently on The Future of Virtualization in collaboration with Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nutanix, Virtuozzo and Sangfor Technologies. Virtualization, by definition, is about creating simulated environments and virtual representations of physical systems like storage, networks, operating machines, servers and other devices. These industry experts collectively shared their perspectives and agreed that while there are challenges, there are solutions available to mitigate market changes.

Panellists were, Ahmed Amni, vice president of APJ Sales & Global Business Development of Virtuozzo; Keith Lee, Sangfor Technologies Cloud Business Director; Miguel Rivera, Infrastructure Solutions Group Director, Dell Technologies; Thet Htun Aung, Microsoft’s ASEAN Leader (AVS, Azure Infra and SAP); and Surak Thammarak, Systems Engineering Manager for Thailand & GEMS Nutanix.

Ingram Micro Malaysia distributes different virtualization options as a leading technology company for the global information technology ecosystem that offer customers a full suite of solutions. Yoon Kam Fei, executive managing director of Ingram Micro Malaysia who also moderated the panel, said, “As part of adding value to our customers’ journey, we organized this joint panel discussion with key industry players to help shed light into the future of virtualization and the strategies we can adopt to stay agile and to meet the needs of modern enterprises.”

He added that customers are looking for cost-effective alternatives that are technologically feasible in meeting their virtualization needs. “This discussion provides an opportunity for customers to explore available solutions that these vendors can offer to support a successful migration pathway.”

Yoon noted that CIOs and IT managers are constantly faced with the upward challenge of managing ever-increasing IT expenses and would require help with not just finding the right solution at the right price point, but in assessing robust enough technology for their specific environment within the immediate short and mid-term of over three to five years.

Ahmed of Virtuozzo said the company offers flexibility to the market by moving from a proprietary solution to a productized open-source solution that can be integrated into the customer’s ecosystem. Lee agreed that it is vital for customers to engage vendors with an open ecosystem so they do not feel locked into a specific vendor should they wish to perform system migration in the future.

Dell’s Rivera said, “We understand that customers can be concerned about risk should they decide to move from one platform to another. The cost of migration can be complicated, and businesses would want to protect the investments they already made – we are here to help and to offer assessments.”

Thet, from Microsoft, shared that while there are numerous options available, there are pros and cons with various considerations to be made and therefore, vendors play the crucial role as trusted consultants to customers based on their business requirements.

Surak observed the transformative trend moving forward to cloud-native applications and hybrid multi-cloud with an increased adoption of cloud services and open-source platforms.

Panelists collectively identified key factors that may raise customer confidence in deploying any of their solutions, concurring that one of the key factors is having local presence in the market to offer timely support. This team should consist of operational experts, remote assistance and delivery. To create trust among undecided customers, panelists stressed the need to reassure customers of the strength inherent in their technology and proven track record of customer references and success stories.

The panelists agreed that the common goal is that they complement one another, instead of competing to go to market. Offering the best solution to customers would depend on each use case and business outcomes with there being no one-size-fits-all approach. The winning proposition is to create a customised solution with the right technology that can meet the customers business needs. 

To learn more about Ingram Micro Malaysia in support of your business and its virtualization journey, email [email protected] or visit https://my.ingrammicro-asia.com/.