NetApp INSIGHT 2024 | Gabie Boko, NetApp & Paola Menegon, Aruba

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More from NetApp INSIGHT 2024

Gabie Boko

CMO

NetApp

Paola Menegon

Head of Strategic Opportunities/Alliances

Aruba

play_circle_outline Introduction to NetApp Insight 2024 with focus on intelligent data infrastructure

play_circle_outline Alliance between Aruba and NetApp in cloud services and data center solutions

play_circle_outline Importance of customer-centricity, security, sustainability, and shared values in partnerships

play_circle_outline Benefits of NetApp's unified storage and intelligent data infrastructure for organizations like Aruba

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Gabie Boko, NetApp & Paola Menegon, Aruba

Gabie Boko

CMO NetApp

Paola Menegon

Head of Strategic Opportunities/Alliances Aruba

Intelligent data infrastructure has been a key focus at NetApp Insight 2024 in Las Vegas. Paola Menegon from Aruba and Gabie Boko from NetApp discuss their partnership and shared values. Aruba, a cloud service provider based in Italy, has been working with NetApp for over 13 years, leveraging technologies to serve a wide range of customers. The partnership focuses on simplicity, security, and sustainability. NetApp's intelligent data infrastructure aims to provide unified storage, intelligent services, and solutions for customers. Customer feedback plays a ke... Read more

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What does Paola Menegon do at Aruba and can you provide some information about the company? add

What was the evolution and impact of the collaboration between Aruba and NetApp over the past 13 years? add

What values does the organization believe in and share with NetApp? add

What are the three pillars of intelligent data infrastructure mentioned in the text? add

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Gabie Boko, NetApp & Paola Menegon, Aruba

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Rebecca Knight

>> Good afternoon everyone, and welcome back to theCUBE's live coverage of NetApp Insight 2024 here in Las Vegas. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight, alongside my co-host and analyst, Rob Strechay. The buzzword of Insight is definitely intelligence data infrastructure.

Rob Strechay

>> Absolutely. I think it was-

Rebecca Knight

>> Say it with me now.

Rob Strechay

>> Intelligent data infrastructure was launched last year, but really has taken shape and I think the impressive nature of all the announcements and what it's meant to the customers and partners that are out there has been fantastic.

Rebecca Knight

>> And with that, I would like to welcome our next two guests to the show. We have Paola Menegon, she's the Head of Strategic Opportunities and Alliances at Aruba.

>> Hello.

Rebecca Knight

>> Thank you so much for coming direct from Milan.

>> Yes, exactly. Thanks to you for having us.

Rebecca Knight

>> And Gabie Boko, she is the CMO here at NetApp. Thank you so much-

Gabie Boko

>> Glad to be back....

Rebecca Knight

>> for coming back on the show. A Cube alum.

Rob Strechay

>> We didn't scare you away, that's the great thing.

Rebecca Knight

>> Not yet.

Rob Strechay

>> Not yet.

Rebecca Knight

>> There's still time. There's still time. Paola, I'm going to start with you. Why don't you tell our viewers a little bit about Aruba and also about what you do there?

Gabie Boko

>> Yeah, absolutely. So I can imagine most of you would imagine an island when talking about Aruba. Well, this is not the case. Actually, we are based in Italy. We are a privately owned company, an Italian company, that was born in 1994. So we are actually on our 30-year anniversary this year. We were born in Italy, but then now we expanded across Europe. And we have actually multiple dimensions, I would say multiple souls, because on one side we are cloud service provider. So we provide with our customers public cloud services, private clouds, and we do hybrid clouds, which is a trend that we have been hearing a lot during these two days. But then on the other side, we start designing and building our own data centers. So we have a data center network in Italy with multiple data centers, but then we also have data center across different European countries. And from those data center we actually serve our customers. And when I speak about customers, I refer to multiple levels, multiple types of customers; because we start from private citizens, so the general public, but we serve also public and private enterprise. And the last soul, which is very dear to me, is as a software provider, because we serve customers with trust services. So like certified email or SSL certificates, digital signature, which actually allows digital transformation from within our customer business. So this is a little bit of Aruba.

Rebecca Knight

>> And you do your role?

Rob Strechay

>> Yeah. So I do alliances within Aruba. So I'm very excited to be here today because we are also going to talk a little bit about this new partnership with NetApp.

Rob Strechay

>> So we talked about intelligent data infrastructure. It's been the buzzword, like I said, for the last year, but really hits home this week and especially in the keynotes that have happened so far. And I have a premonition it will continue in the keynotes tomorrow as well. What does that really mean and how does it differ from traditional systems in your view?

Gabie Boko

>> Oh, that's such a great question. Yeah, from last year, we were really launching a narrative, a new brand, trying to figure out the soul and direction of where we were going. We always knew that it would be become bigger. We needed the time to really create partnerships with the likes of Aruba, with the likes of all the wonderful people you see here, and our floor, and our festival grounds. But we also wanted to spend time really unpacking intelligent data and infrastructure for our customers and our partners and give them connected roadmaps back, which is what you were really starting to see today. And I think that that is what intelligent data infrastructure is. It's not a product, it's an idea that has a connected roadmap and proof points for how you can be better and leverage your data more effectively. That's ultimately what we're trying to do. So that means it gets to grow and it gets to change and evolve. And that's really what a good brand and a good narrative and a good strategy does.

Rebecca Knight

>> I really like that, connected roadmaps, because it's easy to visualize and understand how it can help you achieve the outcomes you're looking for. So, Paola, what was it about NetApp's intelligent data infrastructure and these connected roadmaps that made you want to have an alliance with this company?

>> Well, I really like the meaning of connected roadmap because this is exactly what happened between Aruba and NetApp. So we started more than 13 years ago working together on the first customer, but then we actually evolved across multiple technologies. So just consider that now we have more than 50 terabyte of raw data. And we more than 500 controller arrays together. So basically from that infrastructure we can leverage together different services that we provide to our customers. And it was really a connected roadmap between us because we were able to have a conversation to understand which is the best technology that would fit our needs and also the different customers that we serve. And we were able to evolve in growing complexity because one real value for us in working with NetApp is having the simplicity across all portfolio to manage a complex infrastructure that for a cloud provider, of course, is always growing. And thinking about also the security today, I really appreciated all the features regarding security, because for us it's an essential topic with our customers.

Rob Strechay

>> And Gabie. How do you see it from the partnership aspect and how it's really helping drive more modern workloads for different customers that are out there? Because they're a customer, but they have customers and those customers are your customers as well. And how do you see that all playing out as part of this partnership in the connected road map way, I guess you could say?

Gabie Boko

>> Yeah. Well, it's really how we like to think about the layers of our relationships. We have all the traditional alliances, partnerships, et cetera, but we have this nice reserved bucket that we have for technology kind of partnerships and that are those connected roadmaps, the most demonstrable of what a connected ecosystem really starts to look like. So for IDI, intelligent data infrastructure, we really see that as the future proof-point for how we bring that to life and how to create a market for it. You don't do that by just having a bolt on or a reference. Those are lovely, and we have those as part of it as well. But we believe this strength in intelligent data infrastructure comes from the connected relationships that can be a customer, a partner, a product road map, all in one. And so that's what we're excited about again, in that evolution of intelligent data infrastructure, and relationships like Aruba that help us take it to the next level.

Rebecca Knight

>> Paola, how do you define how this relationship has helped you drive innovation for your customers?

Gabie Boko

>> Well, this relationship actually something that started as a relationship based on technology, but then he has evolved up to sharing the same values, company values. So for us, bringing the same best of breed technology, knowing that we have a partner we can count on is probably what makes us sleep at night knowing that we can serve our customers, always looking towards a deeper innovation. And to us knowing that we can also expand our reach not only from Italy but across Europe, knowing that a partner like NetApp will be there providing the best technology and the best services. Because what we really appreciate is also the fact of having a team we can rely on that is there for us, supports us and give us the best competencies to offer to our customers as well.

Rebecca Knight

>> It's so interesting to talk about shared values because it sounds a little squishy, but yet it is so real because it is what will make or break a partnership and it will help create these outcomes that you're both looking for. So when you think about the shared values that the team has, and as you said, you can rely on each other, and that's so critical. Can you just describe a little bit about what that's like and what these shared values are, and how it helps you achieve what you're looking to achieve?

>> Yeah, absolutely. So I really believe we are a very customer-centric organization. We tend to put the customer first in every situation. And this is the same value that we share with NetApp. This means for us that the customer has to be secure, their data is our value, it's their treasure. So it's something they can trust us with and they want to make sure that we secure it in our data center network. We provide the design cloud and that strive also to keep on innovating continuously in the technology that we provide them is another aspect that we share. Because basically, we are evolving our technology towards AI. We are evolving towards even a deeper security. So this is something that we share as well. I believe reliability is a big piece, and I don't want to forget about one of the key value for us, which is sustainability. Our data center, especially the one in Milan, is powered by a green source type of electricity. We have multiple hydroelectric plants. So we really care about sustainability in a very substantial way. And this is something that again, we share.

Rebecca Knight

>> It's true.

Rob Strechay

>> And we had Jeff on earlier about the six S's that he had there. And it was sustainability, simplicity, scale-

Rebecca Knight

>> Smart....

Rob Strechay

>> smart, security. And I knew I was going to miss one.

Rebecca Knight

>> It'll come to me.

Rob Strechay

>> It will.

Rebecca Knight

>> No help.

Rob Strechay

>> Yeah, no, it'll come back to me. But when I look at it, because there's always a lot of noise, and intelligent data infrastructure, like you said, it's the vision. It's not a destination. It's kind of that roadmap, that joint roadmap and a way to get to AI and other things. But also under the hood, it's really around unified storage. And a lot of people talk about unified storage out there, but NetApp with ONTAP and really seems to deliver it. Do you see that as a big benefit to organizations like Aruba when you're out there talking to customers about that?

Gabie Boko

>> Absolutely. Absolutely. I think intelligent data infrastructure, as you think about it for our whole portfolio is really three things. And they are the three pillars of what we believe make customers like Aruba, partnerships like we have with Aruba successful. Unified data storage is absolutely one, but it's the new way to unify it, I like to call it, because it has to be more than just what it was before. You have to keep evolving it. And I think that's what you saw from our announcements today. Has to be more value, more volume for less price. It has to be block, file and object. It has to be many things. Unified is important. And it has to have a fantastic operating system that allows you to have an integrated view of security and intelligence. And so that's what we really love about that message. But that's only one pillar. The other two pillars that I've loved to evolve is also part of our portfolio that continues to evolve. And you heard that from Haiyan today, talking really about intelligent services. And that is a new direction for us. But that also brings in things that we have been dealing with. That's our cloud ops portfolio. That is now fully integrated and saying, "We're thinking about this differently." And then the final one is solutions because we believe in workloads that are going to help you drive AI. We believe in workloads and solutions that our partners have that we want to showcase as part of IDI, as part of intelligent data infrastructure. So all of those building blocks together, they may start with unified storage. We know that's our core, but they have to be rounded and complete so that our partners, our customers can participate in that landscape.

Rebecca Knight

>> Well, building on that, I mean Paola was just talking about this shared idea of customer centricity and their needs for security, their needs for sustainability. How are you taking customer feedback and what you're hearing from them, at conversations here at the festival grounds and elsewhere, and really helping to shape this era of intelligent data infrastructure?

Gabie Boko

>> Yeah, feedback I think is more than a gift. It has to be something that you do all the time. I think even just the three pillars that I just gave you, two of them actually completely changed since we rolled it out. We redefined them, we reconnected them, and we got down to what the customers really wanted versus what we thought they wanted. So I think that's part of it. We took the feedback, we listened, and I think that's also why we have that lovely third pillar, which is solutions, which is really based on AI workloads. It really is based on partner solutions and partner workloads. What are they on the front lines deploying? We want our architecture, our data infrastructure to be able to be receptive to that. So it's not just about listening and changing, it's about building a sandbox, if you will, for them to participate with you.

Rob Strechay

>> And Paola, I think just bridging off that, because to me being a service provider and being in Italy, in the EU, it's not only sustainability obviously, but there's also governance and sovereignty is a big thing. I mean, NetApp has had a fantastic long relationship with the US federal government in being secure and being able to do compartmentalized and being sovereign, I guess you could say. Do you see that as a benefit to your customers having that experience and that being brought to you and how fast you can roll out services to your customers?

Rebecca Knight

>> This is actually a very good question. Excellent question, because this gives me the opportunity to say that we already have solutions that are powered on NetApp that are actually serving our public institutions, let's say. Just to give you an example, of course, I will give an Italian example, but this is becoming a best practice for European Union. So when I speak about the certified email, what I mean is a way of securely transmit a document that has a legal proof. And that is a highly regulated environment. So imagine for a public institution that has to has those information and that data archived for multiple years, many years. So basically what we can do and what we have been doing with NetApp was actually providing a service that is reliable, that is stable, that gives all the proof that the government needs. And we are under many audits, many regulatory evolvements where laws changes, but we know that we can adapt the technology to the need of the country or European Union, but the service is always stable. So this is something that for us is already happening and we are looking forward into a European framework because we're going to expand our reach in also the other digital trust services to be expanded to different countries with different regulatory frameworks.

Rebecca Knight

>> Gabie, last question for you. Looking ahead to the future, what are some key trends that you're seeing and what's your advice to customers and other businesses for how they can stay competitive?

Gabie Boko

>> Oh, that's a big one.

Rebecca Knight

>> I know, but just -

Gabie Boko

>> Thank you for the really big question at the end.

Rob Strechay

>> And only in five letters or less.

Gabie Boko

>> No. I really think that the whole point to a roadmap is to create a moment and an idea, and then to have access to really smart people, smart partners, and smart advisors that can help you really formulate that. I view that as the future of intelligent data infrastructure. I view that as the future we have with our partners. I view that as the future of NetApp. I was with a customer last night who said the most valuable thing we could have ever done was just sit down and listen. And that's really what I think intelligent data infrastructure does. It allows us to have a conversation and help them chart a roadmap. So as far as I'm concerned, AI is just the beginning. I don't know what comes next. We didn't know what came next after cloud, but I think that we are well-prepared to have that conversation. So I'm here. We're all here. We're listening, and we'll help you go where you want to go.

Rebecca Knight

>> Great note to end on, Gabie. Thank you so much, Paola. Thank you so much for coming on theCUBE.

>> Thank you.

Rebecca Knight

>> I'm Rebecca Knight for Rob Strechay. Stay tuned for more of theCUBE's live coverage of NetApp Insight 2024. You're watching theCUBE, the leader in enterprise tech news and analysis.