VMware-to-ZStack Case: Indonesian MSP

A leading Managed Service Provider (MSP) in Southeast Asia, specializing in data center and IT cloud management services, is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, with operations across Indonesia, Malaysia, the United States, and other regions. The company offers a one-stop digital infrastructure solution for enterprise clients, from consulting and deployment to management.

In the face of growing business demands and management complexity, the Indonesian MSP has been continuously working to optimize the operational efficiency of its internal platform and resource utilization. By successfully deploying the ZStack Cloud platform, the MSP has built a unified platform to manage VMware and ZStack heterogeneous resources, achieving fine-grained and compliant control over resources and permissions. ZStack Cloud’s built-in HA mechanism significantly enhances business continuity and reduces operational risks. Additionally, the platform’s backward compatibility with existing environments allows for the full continuation and value addition of historical VMware assets and hardware investments, resulting in significant cost savings.

Client Needs

With the continuous expansion of business systems, the Indonesian MSP faced increasingly complex virtual machine platform and resource management issues, especially in achieving efficient operations and resource scheduling in a VMware environment:

1. Multiple systems to manage, complex operational processes, and low efficiency.

2. Lack of a unified mechanism for permissions and resource management, preventing business units from enabling self-service.

3. The platform’s high availability depended on hardware and underlying architecture, making it difficult to scale flexibly.

4. The high cost of further expansion and upgrades.

The client wanted to achieve the following goals while retaining the existing VMware architecture and hardware investments:

1. Improve virtual machine lifecycle management efficiency.

2. Implement a unified resource management platform that supports self-service capabilities.

3. Enhance the platform’s high availability to reduce business disruption risks.

4. Control operational permissions, balancing flexibility for business departments with resource compliance.

Therefore, the client began seeking a cloud platform solution that could seamlessly integrate with VMware, support unified management and a self-service portal, and offer high availability.

Solution Plan

After in-depth research and testing, the Indonesian MSP chose to deploy the ZStack Cloud platform and integrate it with their VMware architecture. The overall solution was designed as follows:

· VMware Management Module: ZStack Cloud integrates with vCenter to achieve unified management and operations of VMware and ZStack resources.

· Enterprise Management Module: A multi-tenant self-service portal that enables automated virtual machine provisioning and lifecycle management.

· HA High Availability Mechanism: ZStack Cloud’s built-in high availability strategy enhances business continuity.

· Software and Hardware Compatibility: ZStack Cloud is compatible with the client’s existing servers and storage, ensuring smooth platform evolution and saving investment costs.

Solution Value

This solution provides the following key technical features and differentiated advantages:

· Unified Management of Heterogeneous Resources: Through integration with vCenter, ZStack achieves centralized control over VMware and self-built resources.

· Powerful Self-Service Capabilities: The multi-tenant enterprise management module allows business units to automate the full lifecycle of virtual machines (provisioning, modification, and reclamation) through the self-service portal.

· Built-in High Availability Architecture: Compared to traditional VMware architectures that rely on external solutions, ZStack Cloud’s built-in HA capability is more flexible and efficient.

· Seamless Compatibility with Existing Investments: ZStack Cloud’s backward compatibility means clients do not need to replace existing servers or storage, avoiding redundant investment and enabling smooth platform upgrades.

· Fine-Grained Resource Control: The multi-tenant and permission mechanisms ensure compliant resource usage, supporting operational and regulatory requirements.

This case exemplifies ZStack’s success in empowering MSP clients in the global market (especially Southeast Asia) to enhance cloud service competitiveness and achieve strategic goals of “quality improvement and efficiency enhancement” and “unified control.” It demonstrates ZStack’s advantages in cloud platform management, compatibility, self-service capabilities, and cost-efficiency, ultimately leading to a dual improvement in the client’s IT operational capabilities and satisfaction.