FlexPod XCS is a winning game plan

March Madness, often referred to as the Big Dance, is arguably one of the greatest tournaments in sports. Sixty-four Division 1 college basketball programs take part in a single-elimination tournament over the course of about 3 weeks. Teams face off across the country with hopes of cutting down the nets and bringing home the trophy.

It's a formidable task: Six consecutive wins, with each opponent displaying a different skillset than the last, presents a unique challenge. The Big Dance is a test of perseverance and adaptability. The landscape of college basketball changes frequently-different players, new coaches, shifting offensive and defensive schemes-with the most adaptable team taking home the #1 title.

In many ways, college basketball is similar to the ever-changing digital world. Maybe it doesn't feature high-flying acrobatics or half-court buzzer beaters, but what about the harrowing tales of manual configuration mishaps, low visibility from siloed operations, and testing and validation complications? It's a difficult path to navigate.

Improve your jump shot

These complexities are why Cisco and NetApp teamed up to write the playbook for FlexPod® XCS, an automated platform for modern applications, data, and hybrid cloud services. The latest innovation from FlexPod is a slam dunk—increasing efficiency through infrastructure visibility, decreasing costs through automation, and simplifying the hybrid cloud experience as the first and only converged infrastructure with native integration into the three major cloud providers.

Whether you’re implementing a hybrid cloud strategy, modernizing applications, or seeking to improve financial flexibility, the path to digital transformation is not a straight one, with external market pressures and shifting organizational priorities increasing the need for flexibility. Fortunately, FlexPod XCS breeds flexibility—it’s in the name.

Get in the game

The Cisco and NetApp team has a winner with FlexPod XCS. We’ve been building out a championship gameplan for over 12 years with more than 200 plays, excuse me, validated designs, to help you execute at the top of your game. FlexPod XCS is prepared to take on your critical workloads, cloud-native applications, and advanced configurations. No opponent is too tough!

In the paint, at the free-throw line, or behind the arc, we’ve got you covered, edge to core to cloud.

Check out these demos:

• FlexPod hybrid cloud for disaster recovery with Cisco Intersight
• FlexPod for hybrid cloud with NetApp® Cloud Volumes ONTAP
• FlexPod data replication with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP on AWS