Enterprise computing innovation has flourished, spanning from artificial intelligence hardware to high-performance computing and advanced analytics.

Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. have partnered to foster that same innovation by co-developing enterprise hybrid cloud solutions spanning data centers and manufacturing facilities alike.

Microsoft’s Alan Kerr unpacks Azure hybrid cloud.

“When we had initiatives like the hybrid cloud, we’re really responding to customer requests,” said Alan Kerr (pictured), Azure hybrid and adaptive cloud specialist and director of AI for the Americas at Microsoft. “They came and said, ‘We want all of that chewy goodness that is Azure in our data centers, in our co-location facilities, in our manufacturing facilities.’ So, the very first thing we do is go to our great partners like HPE, get them on speed dial and say, ‘Here’s what we are thinking,’ because our software runs on hardware.”

Kerr spoke with theCUBE’s  Dave Vellante and Rebecca Knight at HPE Discover, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the Microsoft and HPE collaboration, expanding on a future where AI, cloud and infrastructure are seamlessly integrated. (* Disclosure below.)

Azure hybrid cloud: Bringing flexibility and uniformity to the fore

The primary concern for enterprises embarking on hybrid cloud journeys is ensuring a seamless overview, with uniform instances across environments. Azure hybrid cloud gives users the freedom to deploy workloads with the flexibility to decide their placement and even move them between cloud and on-premises environments as needed. This approach ensures that businesses can adapt swiftly to changing circumstances without compromising on performance or security, according to Kerr.

“The great thing about it is that it’s literally the same toolset,” he said. “You go to the portal, and it’s all there. The same stuff I manage in Azure is the same stuff I manage on-prem. When I’m deploying a workload, whatever that may be, I just decide where to put it.”

AI is transforming industries at scale, and manufacturing hasn’t been left out. The integration of AI and Azure hybrid cloud solutions is bridging the gap between operational technology and information technology, Kerr added.

“We had a customer very recently, we just closed this global customer in all of their manufacturing … for the first time in their entire history, they had security sign-off on using Azure Stack,” he said. “The way we did it was to link the OT and IT network and use the software-defined network and split those in physical networks.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of HPE Discover: 

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for HPE Discover. Neither Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Intel Corp., the primary sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE