UPDATED 13:55 EDT / DECEMBER 01 2016

CLOUD

Expanded Arista-HPE parnership takes on new challenges in the cloud networking space | #HPEDiscover

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. had been looking to expand in the cloud network space; Arista Networks Inc., as a strong provider of software-driven cloud networking, was a natural partner for this endeavor. The recently expanded partnership allows HPE customers and partners to purchase Arista switching products directly from HPE. It’s a natural partnership, between HPE and Arista, to deliver on the promise of software-defined and cloud.

Paddy Power Betfair is an international, multi-channel betting business. Richard Haigh, head of delivery enablement at Paddy Power Betfair, explained that its main needs are around data analytics. It was looking for a network provider that would fit their needs. “About a year and a half ago, we went out to market looking for the various providers we would need for our OpenStack; we had a lot of freedom to choose. And through that stack, we ended up choosing, independently of each other at the time, HPE and Arista to provide that networking layer,” said Haigh.

Haigh; Dom Wilde, VP and GM, Data Center Networking Business Unit, at HPE; and Mark Smith, senior VP, Sales and Business Development, at Arista Networks, joined Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-host of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during HPE Discover EU, held in London. They discussed trends they’re seeing in the marketplace, as well as how the HPE/Arista partnership is working.

Network megatrends

Haigh, Wilde and Smith discussed megatrends that have been driving momentum in the marketplace.

“Most of our customers and the cloud providers want an open network. They’re tired of being locked into fabrics where a vendor controls their destiny and raises their prices over time, “said Smith. At most companies, today, the CIO is looking to cut operational costs. They can’t do that with the traditional, ‘black box lock in’ mentality, he said. Open is a huge trend in data center.

Software-defined networking is all about automating standard processes; this eliminates human errors, which is most of the problems in a network, according to Smith. “When I can automate a network, I can eliminate that human factor, and I can run a much more reliable network at scale,” he explained.

HPE and Arista, growing together in the cloud

Wilde explained that the partnership started on Nov. 1, 2016, with product shipping on that day. HPE has had FlexFabric products for many years, and it will continue to invest there, as it is aligned to the more traditional use case. Arista fits in well in the growth segment for software-defined cloud and is HPE’s preferred partner in that space, he added.

“The growth area for the future is around cloud, around convergence; that’s where the partnership comes in,” said Wilde. He said that the Aruba acquisition was huge for HPE, as it encompassed the mobility solutions that are the drivers for everything happening in technology today, because everything is mobile.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of HPE Discover EU(*Disclosure: HPE and other companies sponsor some HPE Discover EU segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither HPE nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo by SiliconANGLE

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