In a giant step forward for data center power and efficiency detailed in this InfoWorld Executive Brief, IBM and Cisco have added IBM FlashSystem to our jointly developed VersaStack integrated infrastructure solution offerings, making “doing more with less” easier than ever before.

1. VERSASTACK + IBM FLASHSYSTEM =
UNPARALLELED VALUE
infrastructure solutions are catching on fast in
today’s data centers. Equipped with pre-assem-
bled, thoroughly tested compute, networking,
storage, and management components, they’re
dramatically simpler to buy, deploy, and maintain
than traditional “best of breed” infrastructures.
In fact, integrated infrastructures offer so many
benefits that the only hard thing about them is
finding ways to make them even more powerful.
Yet two giants of enterprise IT have found one
just the same: Combine them with the fastest
storage arrays on the planet. In a giant step
forward for data center power and efficiency,
IBM and Cisco have introduced a new VersaS-
tack solution, which adds IBM FlashSystem all-
flash storage to their jointly developed integrated
infrastructure offering—and it’s about to make
the age-old imperative to “do more with less”
easier than ever before.
NO TIME FOR DO-IT-YOURSELF
And just in time, too, because IT departments
today are increasingly caught between two
brutally conflicting forces. On the one hand,
rapid-fire global competition and skyrocketing
demand for new cloud computing, big data, and
mobility solutions have made rolling out more
infrastructure more quickly a constant priority.
On the other hand, flat or declining technology
budgets have made meeting those requirements
a constant headache.
Worse yet, IT organizations are losing head-
count as well as dollars. “As a result, they don’t
want to spend a lot of time building infrastruc-
tures themselves and need to minimize the risk
involved in that process,” observes Erik Eyberg,
IBM’s manager of worldwide enterprise storage
strategy and business development. And that’s
doubly true for the many line-of-business units,
application development organizations, and other
A new solution from IBM and Cisco combines the simplicity and
efficiency of integrated infrastructures with the extreme performance
of IBM all-flash storage arrays.
WHITE PAPER
It’s not hard to understand why integrated

2. Advantages like those have businesses snap-
ping up integrated infrastructure systems in
big numbers. In fact, analyst firm IDC, of Fram-
ingham, Mass., predicts that nearly 15 percent
of all newly purchased server, storage, and
networking resources will be housed in integrated
infrastructure systems by 2017, and that outlays
on integrated infrastructure solutions will rise at a
33 percent CAGR through that same year.
EFFICIENCY AND VERSATILITY
VersaStack is likely to attract a hefty portion of
that spending. Based on a set of Cisco Validated
Designs that maximize reliability and minimize risk,
VersaStack combines IBM storage with Cisco UCS
Integrated Infrastructure, including the cutting-
edge Cisco Unified Computing System and the
consolidated UCS Director management inter-
face. It’s also compatible with Application Centric
Infrastructure, Cisco’s innovative software-defined
networking architecture, and backed by compre-
hensive services and support from IBM, Cisco,
and their extensive partner ecosystems.
Together, those and other features enable busi-
nesses to achieve unparalleled efficiencies.
VersaStack cuts infrastructure design, deploy-
ment, and administration overhead by up to 50
percent on average, yet is 59 percent cheaper to
acquire than its leading competitor and offers 62
percent lower TCO. Its compact form factor also
enables companies to save money on cooling,
power, and floor space. In fact, according to
Buskermolen, deploying VersaStack enabled
i-Virtualize to shrink the infrastructure footprint in
its hosting data center by a whopping 48 percent.
As its name implies, VersaStack is an extremely
versatile system as well. It is not limited to single
application environments. Users can scale it up,
out, or both and seamlessly grow departmental
implementations into enterprise environments.
Unlike with competing products, moreover, users
can also add compute, networking, or storage
resources independently rather than buy a
whole new chassis every time they require more
capacity in a specific area. “You can expand
based on what you need and what the customer
needs versus what the manufacturer is pushing
down on you,” Buskermolen says.
non-IT consumers buying infrastructure on their
own these days. “They don’t have the skill sets to
deploy and integrate those systems, so they want
end-to-end solutions,” Eyberg explains.
That’s exactly what integrated infrastructure offer-
ings like VersaStack provide, in a pre-engineered
package that saves time and money by radi-
cally streamlining procurement, implementation,
and scalability. “[Companies] just can’t afford
to spend time with the traditional do-it-yourself
approach,” notes Jeff Kato, a senior analyst and
consultant at analyst firm Taneja Group Inc., of
Hopkinton, Mass.
Plus, integrated infrastructure solutions produce
faster ROI because they’re pretested and
validated. They also reduce downtime because
they provide built-in redundancy features and
simplify administration because they come with
centralized management interfaces. “From one
pane of glass you’re essentially controlling your
compute, your storage, and your network,” notes
John Buskermolen, co-founder of i-Virtualize Inc.,
a Toronto-based provider of hosted and on-prem-
ises infrastructure services. “That’s a leap ahead
of what we could do before.”
2 WHITE PAPER ➔ VersaStack + IBM FlashSystem = Unparalleled Value
“From one pane of
glass you’re essentially
controlling your compute,
your storage, and your
network. That’s a leap
ahead of what we could
do before.”
— John Buskermolen
co-founder of i-Virtualize Inc.

3. 3 WHITE PAPER ➔ VersaStack + IBM FlashSystem = Unparalleled Value
Perhaps best of all, VersaStack is backed by
two of the most respected names in IT: Cisco,
a worldwide leader in networking, server, and
management technology; and IBM, a worldwide
leader in storage. “It’s a marriage of two of the
best enterprise manufacturers in the world,” Busk-
ermolen says. “That’s a huge differentiator.”
EXTREME PERFORMANCE
Adding IBM FlashSystem storage to VersaStack
makes the industry’s most sophisticated inte-
grated infrastructure solution even more powerful.
For starters, the IBM MicroLatency technology
in FlashSystem products empowers businesses
to run big data, e-commerce, and other perfor-
mance-sensitive applications on integrated
infrastructure for the first time. In addition, the
exceptional flexibility of FlashSystem products
makes for an excellent fit for hosting different
kinds of applications on common underlying
resources. “Mixed workloads can be tough
on integrated solutions optimized for a single
scenario,” Eyberg notes. “FlashSystem-based
integrated infrastructures adapt easily to a wide
range of different use cases.”
Thanks to its market-leading energy efficiency
and density and built-in Real-time Compression
functionality, furthermore, FlashSystem delivers
superior economics, enabling companies to pack
up to five times more data in the same space
without driving up power costs or other opera-
tional expenses. Hot-swappable components
and Variable Stripe RAID technology enable
FlashSystem to provide best-in-breed availability
as well. In addition, the FlashSystem V9000
products used in new VersaStack solutions offer
data services based on IBM Spectrum Virtualize
technology shared with the IBM Storwize prod-
ucts used in other VersaStack solutions today,
so there are no surprises for clients looking to
expand their VersaStack estates to address
flash use cases.
Put all of that together with the already impressive
strengths of today’s VersaStack solutions and the
end result is a cost-effective tool for rolling out
more—and more powerful—infrastructure more
rapidly, without breaking the bank in the process.
“It’s a very rare scenario where you do more with
less and you provide more with less,” Busker-
molen says. VersaStack and IBM FlashSystem
storage have put that long-sought goal squarely
within every company’s reach. n
For more information, visit
ibm.com
VersaStack solution is a giant
step forward for data center
power and efficiency. Deploying
VersaStack enabled i-Virtualize
to shrink the infrastructure foot-
print in its hosting data center
by a whopping 48 percent.

4. EXECUTIVE
VIEWPOINT
In a case of the best getting better, IBM and Cisco
have created a new edition of their joint VersaStack
integrated infrastructure solution featuring IBM
FlashSystem all-flash storage arrays. In this executive
Q&A, Ian Shave, an IBM executive and recognized
thought leader in the storage industry, provides the
back story for that initiative and explains why the new
system represents a breakthrough for the integrated
infrastructure market.
Q: Why did Cisco and IBM come together
to create VersaStack?
A: IBM and Cisco actually have a long history of
working together to deliver innovative solutions.
VersaStack is simply how we’re addressing one of the
hottest market segments in IT. Integrated infrastruc-
ture solutions are a major trend right now, because
they lower acquisition costs and administrative
overhead, reduce downtime, and improve resource
utilization. They also reduce risk, because they’re
pretested for compatibility and have a track record of
success in real-world environments. By combining our
strengths and expertise, IBM and Cisco have created
an integrated infrastructure system that offers higher
performance and greater flexibility at a lower cost than
any comparable product out there.
Q: How do all-flash arrays make integrated
infrastructure solutions an even more compel-
ling option for today’s businesses?
A: Adding high-speed, purpose-built flash storage
to an integrated infrastructure brings the system’s
storage side much closer to the compute side from a
performance perspective, which enables companies
to run a wider range of mission-critical applications on
cost-effective, powerful solutions like VersaStack.
Better Infrastructure and Lower
Cost, an Unbeatable Pairing
Q: What makes IBM FlashSystem arrays
in particular a great fit for integrated infra-
structure solutions?
A: For workloads that demand maximum perfor-
mance, efficiency, and reliability at large scale, there’s
simply nothing better than IBM FlashSystem. And
that’s not just IBM talking. Both IDC and Gartner have
recently released market analyses confirming that IBM
shipped more flash capacity last year than both of
our nearest competitors combined. When you put the
industry’s best storage together with its best server
and networking technologies, you end up with the
industry’s best integrated infrastructure solution.
The IBM Storwize hybrid storage previously available
with VersaStack is perfect for lots of workloads, and
expanding to cover more with the new Storwize V5000
for smaller deployments. But adding FlashSystem to
the mix expands the use cases for VersaStack into
areas requiring extreme, microsecond performance,
such as big data and real-time security monitoring.
Q: What differentiates the combined
VersaStack/IBM FlashSystem solution from
other integrated infrastructure offerings?
A: The VersaStack and IBM FlashSystem solution
is backed by a Cisco Validated Design that provides
faster solution delivery, greater reliability, and greater
confidence for our clients. It’s also the most flexible
integrated infrastructure system available, so IT archi-
tects can more easily tailor it to their specific needs
and environments. We really believe that combining
FlashSystem and VersaStack is a big win for our
customers and business partners, because they can
now capitalize on both the extraordinary performance
of IBM FlashSystem and the extraordinary engineering
of an integrated solution developed and supported by
industry leaders.
IAN SHAVE
is business line
executive for Spectrum
Virtualize and Converged
Solutions in IBM’s
storage organization.