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NetApp, along with Microsoft partner Applied Cloud Systems, has been selected as a Finalist in two categories for our Windows Virtual Desktop on Azure NetApp Files solution.
I am delighted to announce that NetApp has been selected as a two-category finalist in the 2020 Microsoft Partner Awards, honored along with Microsoft partner Applied Cloud Systems (ACS) for our joint Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) on Azure NetApp Files solution. Congratulations ACS and kudos to our NetApp team.
The Power of Partnerships
NetApp credits much of our go-to-market success to an incredible partner network. I am a firm believer in the power of partnerships. So the fact that we have earned recognition with ACS resonates particularly strongly with me. ACS is doing a phenomenal job helping organizations with their Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) solutions running on Azure NetApp Files. Winning jointly with ACS reinforces that we can drive even greater value for customers when we collaborate and innovate together.
The ACS announcement:
“We are proud to announce that Microsoft has named Applied Cloud Systems as a Finalist for two Partner of the Year Awards. Since the inception of the company, our goal was to become a trusted partner by Microsoft and our customers, and these awards validate our hard work. I am very proud of the team at Applied Cloud Systems who helped us achieve these awards!”
- Brian M. Dupper, CEO, Applied Cloud Systems
This year, at the Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards, NetApp was recognized in two important categories: Community Response and Education.
Community Response
In the newly created Community Response category, we were recognized for responding rapidly to the need for enterprises to operate virtually and to provide secure, high-performance environments that allow employees to access huge amounts of sensitive corporate data remotely. Our solution was quickly extended to non-profits, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and medical research facilities, all of which were in desperate need of the speed and performance our joint solution delivered. ACS quickly rolled out webinars and opened up a support line to ensure that those unfamiliar with Microsoft Teams and Windows Virtual Desktops had the training and support to be up and running in a matter of days.
“The Microsoft eco-system of partners represents tremendous opportunity for NetApp to grow our Azure cloud business faster than we could on our own. ACS is the perfect partner for us. Their Cloud Control solution for Education helps us open the door to higher education institutions, and Project Velocity ensures a frictionless onboarding experience for customers, accelerating the buying cycle, and delivering incredible value.”
- Anthony Lye, Senior Vice President & GM Cloud BU, NetApp
Education
In the Education category, we took the opportunity to empower remote learning and research at more than 40 universities, moving them all to Azure with WVD in just a few short weeks. While transitioning to offering remote classes turned out to be relatively straightforward, the labs proved to be a significant challenge. Virtual labs require high performance and low latency to enable students and professors to collaborate and access massive amounts of data. WVD on Azure NetApp Files was the perfect solution. ACS also created an onboarding process that reduced deployment times from a few weeks to just a few days. So, educators barely missed a beat in providing a full remote learning experience for faculty and staff.
“Cloud Control is a facilitator for onboarding universities very quickly into WVD. We use ANF to deal with the FSLogix profile part of the architecture, which is a big piece of WVD. Azure NetApp Files gives ACS high performance and a lot more ease of stand-up and resilience. It’s easy to use. It’s easy for our customers to use. It’s easy to route. Azure NetApp Files makes it so that we can rapidly transform universities. We love working with NetApp — NetApp has enabled ACS to be more agile, has whitelisted the environment, and been very supportive and responsive.”
- Chris Bennett, Practice Delivery Manager, Applied Cloud Systems
The Best of the Best
The Microsoft Partner Awards are always highly competitive, and this year was no exception, with more than 3,300 entries from over 100 countries vying for only 49 awards. To be selected from such a distinguished group of Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in both innovation and implementation of customer solutions is particularly gratifying to me. These are very important achievements to all of us at NetApp. We always strive to help our customers and our partners implement game-changing technologies that drive real change.
I invite you to learn more about NetApp and especially about Azure NetApp Files, our unprecedented collaboration with Microsoft. Azure NetApp Files is one of the fastest-growing services in Azure and a solution that is enabling true transformation for enterprises around the globe.