EMC will launch a new Native Hybrid Cloud offering on its VCE VxRail 200 and 200F appliances that could help enterprises speed the development of cloud-native applications, the company announced on Thursday. An EMC press release announcing the product said that it provides a Pivotal Cloud Foundry developer platform.

The Native Hybrid Cloud platform is designed to be flexible, but also packaged and easier to manage. Dan Conde, an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, wrote in the press release that the platform offers “a rich set of options” in terms of software choices on the Native Hybrid Cloud platform, which means it could “be tailored to specific needs while providing the benefits of a converged solution.”

Infrastructure resources are managed and provisioned from the vCenter Server Console, which is also where admins can check performance. Enterprise IT consultant Keith Townsend said that the focus on hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) could help make EMC more competitive in the hybrid cloud market.

“The biggest difference is that they are using HCI from their VCE BU. This may make expanding the platform simple,” Townsend said. “Some customers attracted to Azure Stack for its HCI-based design may find EMC’s VMware-based alternative more appealing.”

SEE: Hybrid financing for hybrid cloud: Flexibility and budget relief (Tech Pro Research)

According to EMC, the Native Hybrid Cloud is also integrated with Virtustream Enterprise Cloud, VMware vCloud Air, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure. It will be available in Q3 2016.

Additionally, EMC announced the general availability for Enterprise Hybrid Cloud v4.0 and specific updates to the suite. EMC’s press release noted that Enterprise Hybrid Cloud v4.0 is geared toward clients that leverage traditional applications from companies such as SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Exchange, as it more efficiently automates delivery of infrastructure services.

Enterprise Hybrid Cloud v4.0 capabilities include multi-site support for distributed data centers, enhanced data protection that can span multiple sites, and anytime VM encryption. Enterprise Hybrid Cloud v4.1, which is targeted for release in Q3 2016, will offer support for vRealize v7.1 and new workflows that will help “automate application to infrastructure provisioning to reduce the time and complexity of delivering new services,” according to the EMC press release.

EMC’s pursuit of hybrid cloud isn’t surprising, as research firm Gartner recently predicted that hybrid cloud would be the most common deployment type by 2020. EMC is the parent company of VMware, which is hosting its 2016 VMworld conference in San Francisco starting in late August.

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

  1. EMC recently announced a new Native Hybrid Cloud offering on its VCE VxRail 200 and 200F appliances that will speed the development of cloud-native apps.
  2. EMC also made its Enterprise Hybrid Cloud v4.0 publicly available, and announced updates for v4.1 that will be coming in Q3 2016.
  3. Hybrid cloud is an important play for vendors, and Gartner predicts it will be the most common cloud use case by 2020.