In my latest articles I have often mentioned that gateways are the power of object storage. Today HDS has announced a new piece of its object storage platform: a gateway called HCP Anywhere.
Enterprise sync&share
HCP anywhere is a very simple product that was thought up to solve a big problem: the enterprise dropbox-like service.
In a few words, HCP Anywhere is nothing more than an on-premise sync&share with all those enterprise grade characteristics that every IT manager is asking: active directory integration, separation between enterprise and personal data, multi-device support, security features and so on.
I’ve already tested it a few days ago and I really like the user experience. You can find the the iOS App on the App Store, and it’s not by chance that it looks like dropbox!
HDS and cloud providers
Part of today’s announcement regards a program for the channel (VARs and CSPs). In fact, as usual, HCP Anywhere isn’t a product designed for the SMB. But, if someone can offer the backend or the whole solution as-a-service, I’m sure that it will easily become very attractive to SMBs too.
I don’t know all the details of the program but it was thought up to involve CSPs and VARs on HDS’ object storage platform (HCP) and related gateways (HDI and Anywhere at the moment). The idea is to join forces (HDS+CSPs+VARs) to propose solutions based on the complete stack, or part of it, to different kinds of users and with different fruition models.
A flaw
The proof that this solution is sized for the ordinary American enterprise (or the ISP) comes from the appliances that do all the communicating between HCP and mobile devices: it is certified to operate on 5000 active users/devices and it is a hardware solution, too big for most European medium sized companies. In any case, the cost isn’t high and the licensing is per user (with a maximum of 5 devices/PCs per user), but I strongly hope in a future virtual appliance (I’m not the only one asking for it!).
Bottom line
HCP Anywhere works only with HDS HCP, but it’s very nice, well implemented and solves a very popular issue (and customers like end-to-end solutions).
I’m sure you’ll see many announcements about enterprise sync&share in the coming months, this new kind of products will show different approaches to the same problem but I strongly believe that the object storage backend is the way to go… especially if you need to manage many different devices/users.
Disclaimer: HDS Italy is a Juku consulting srl client. I have not been compensated and am not obliged to blog. Furthermore, the content is not reviewed, approved or published by any other person than the Juku team.
