NetApp recently bolstered its presence in the software-defined data center with the launch of Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2, the latest release of its flagship storage platform. Datalink’s Jason Anderson provided his take on the new version and shared how Datalink customers are approaching software-led infrastructure in an exclusive chat with SiliconAngle founding editor Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins.

Anderson starts the interview by providing a brief rundown of his company. The Minneapolis-based firm provides data center infrastructure solutions for Fortune 1000 enterprises and other medium to large businesses. As Datalink’s company’s Principal Architect, Anderson is charged with managing the largest and most strategic customers, many of whom are based in the Upper Midwest.

The executive says that Datalink’s primarily focus is helping companies make their data centers buzzword-compliant with current IT trends, namely software-led infrastructure and private cloud architectures. Anderson notes that all of his clients are warming up to these technologies, but some are more cautious than other.

“I’d say that they’re all taking steps towards what is generally described as software-led or software-defined data centers,” he reveals. “It’s really a matter of if they see it as something revolutionary, or whether it’s really just putting a fancy label on the general technology trend of increased integration on the software layer, on increased automation, and the ability to vertically integrate the capabilities of infrastructure as opposed to having silos of capabilities with siloed teams to manage it.”

Clustered Data ONTAP offers many of these advantages and more. Anderson says that the platform makes scale-out storage compatible with general-purpose use cases, and adds that CIOs who are struggling with managing islands of storage and siloed capabilities should consider deploying it. He wraps up the interview by highlighting that the fact ONTAP’s facilitated nondisruptive upgrades separates it from the pack.

To hear the full interview, click on the video below.