The all-in-one proposition of hyperconverged systems lends itself particularly well to remote offices that can’t justify the complexity of a traditional disaggregated setup, which is the use scenario that SimpliVity Inc. is targeting with the new iteration of its platform that debuted this morning. It’s touted as the most significant product update since its launch out of stealth two years ago.

And for good reason. OmniStack 3.0 introduces a new tool that promises to let administrators deploy systems up to five times faster than before, which is essential when opening new branch locations where employees can only start working once their infrastructure comes online. Every day saved waiting is an extra day spent accepting customers or providing care services.

Fresh installations can be automatically hooked up to the network thanks to a new discovery tool that allows companies to arrange their appliances in a so-called hub and spoke configuration wherein the machines at the edge of can be centrally controlled from a major facility. That’s vital for ensuring the smooth delivery of updates and other aspects of operational coordination in large organizations.

OmniStack 3.0 is available for all SimpliVity appliances, but the biggest bang for the buck is offered by the new CN-1200 model that the company is rolling out in conjunction, which is specifically geared towards small branch offices. The entry-level system offers eight processing cores, four terabytes of disk capacity, 800 gigabytes of flash and 82 gigabytes of usable memory.

That’s much less horsepower than SimpliVity’s next smallest appliance, the CN-2200, and as a result costs as little as half what its competitors charge for their rivaling hyperconverged boxes. Rounding out the launch is new backup automation functionality meant to make it easier and less time consuming for administrators to protect the vast amounts of data scattered throughout their organizations’ different locations.

Photo via SimpliVity