Instaclustr acquisition paves the way for NetApp as PaaS

We did it. We just closed our acquisition of Instaclustr, marking a huge step in the transformation of NetApp. Think about it, in seven years, an on-premises storage company has built unique relationships with the three biggest clouds. Today, we’re offering a rich set of data services and hold a leading position in Cloud Operations (CloudOps).

Instaclustr, a leading platform provider of fully managed open-source database, pipeline, and workflow applications delivered as-a-service, makes it easy for organizations to build and scale applications faster and more reliably. Now we’re taking it further.

The acquisition of Instaclustr is the latest move in a series of strategic acquisitions we’ve made so we can deliver more cloud at less cost to our customers.

In addition to our other recent acquisitions—including Spot, CloudCheckr, Data Mechanics, and Fylamynt—Instaclustr positions us to transform Spot by NetApp into a compelling platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for our customers using any or all public clouds. We can now combine continuous optimization, automation, monitoring, and security with expertise in deploying and operating open-source applications.

CloudOps is the practice of building and running applications at speed, and it encompasses DevOps, FinOps and SecOps. It includes and extends CI/CD to the application run time. Further, CloudOps owns the delivery, tuning, optimizing and securing of these applications and is measured against the SLA, SLO, Error Budgets and Costs. CloudOps automates and integrates the procedures and best practices for the applications consumption of both platform as a service and infrastructure as a service.  With the addition of Instaclustr, we can deliver a best-of-suite platform for CloudOps, making it easier for our customers to succeed in an increasingly complex operational environment. Customers tell us they need simplicity, but they are faced with a bewildering array of diverse applications to integrate into a growing range of infrastructure options. They are also coping with spiraling costs and unprecedented shortages of skilled and experienced employees. And now, it’s CloudOps to the rescue.

Encompassing DevOps, FinOps, and SecOps, CloudOps enables organizations to build, deploy, and run applications in a cloud or across multiple clouds with speed, agility, and reliability.

At NetApp, we are cloud-agnostic, working closely with all the major public clouds to ensure our expertise is embedded in their products.

At its core, CloudOps improves and accelerates overall business processes in the cloud. This is why CloudOps is so foundational—and why I am so excited about this acquisition.

Our customers want to focus on their businesses, building and releasing leading-edge applications at speed—not wallowing in myriad infrastructure dilemmas. They are not in the infrastructure business, and they don’t want to be.

To enable our customers to focus on their business goals, we solve common cloud challenges for them—challenges such as complexity, rising costs, single vendor lock-in, and lack of in-house technical resources to keep up with the speed of change.

Our customers continue to tell us they are looking for ways to reduce complexity and cost. In the 2022 CloudCheckr cloud infrastructure report, we learned that managing cloud operations continues to grow in scope, with 63% of companies planning to increase their use of cloud technology. At the same time, we found that 62% of companies are focusing on cost management, while 50% cited optimizing cloud costs in their overall 2022 transformation goals.

If I’m manufacturing cars, the last thing I want to do is stretch my focus and responsibilities to include the complexities of cloud infrastructure. I need to be able to trust a specialist to let me focus on my business, giving me the speed, agility, and security that I need to get cars designed, produced, and delivered to the thousands of customers who need them.

And that’s where NetApp’s status as trusted advisor for 30 years combines with our ongoing transformation to deliver exactly what our customers need when they need it. Instaclustr allows us to deliver on our promise of more cloud at less cost.