NelsonHall names DXC a Leader in Cloud

NelsonHall has named DXC Technology a Leader in its NEAT vendor evaluation for End-to-End Cloud Infrastructure Management Services in five market segments:

• Overall
• Microsoft Azure Capabilities
• AWS Capabilities
• Cloud Orchestration Services
• Cloud Management Services

Identifying DXC as a Leader in the Overall market segment “reflects DXC’s overall ability to meet future client requirements as well as delivering immediate benefits to its IT infrastructure management services clients,” the report states. See Overall chart below.

Following are excerpts from the report.

Overview

DXC helps clients make choices across the spectrum of the data center, mainframe, private cloud, public cloud, SaaS, and out to the edge and where workloads go. This becomes more complex across the number of technology and SaaS partners and investments a client will already have.  DXC then looks to unlock the value and use the right platform at the right time to enable the client's business safely and securely. DXC will engage clients at whatever stage they may be in on their cloud journey to drive business outcomes across cost, agility, and resiliency, and access new business models (e.g., access talent and new sources of capability).

Modernization and Migration

DXC's approach to modernization includes a set of techniques and tools called Precision Guided Modernization, providing a data-driven approach. It enables DXC to simultaneously analyze thousands of applications providing a 360-degree view of a client's current state, combining technical, risk, compliance, and financial factors to support decision making.

DXC's migration services encompass advisory services (business case, sprint plans, landing-zones, and readiness assessments). Its factory fabric includes automated migration planning, workflow automation, automated factory line installation, and real-time dashboards; also, agile lifecycle management, lean metrics-driven processes, DevOps automation, and a plug-and-play approach.

Multi-Cloud Management

DXC supports a native integration to multiple clouds, including AWS, Azure, Google, and VMware. Its multi-cloud management approach supports clients in their journeys, providing a single control plane to manage multi-clouds. It provides a traditional integration through a catalog and dashboard-based approach and uses DevOps to integrate with multiple clouds, supporting traditional applications and containerized apps These can be in a virtual environment (e.g., VMware) or Kubernetes platform and supports any cloud, whether private (VMware-based, or VMware on AWS, Azure, etc.), and public clouds. This is supported by DXC's underlying operations platform (Platform X).

DXC Platform X

Platform X is an AIOps-enabled delivery platform designed for NoOps. It delivers clients' offerings, services, and solutions to improve standardization, governance, visibility, and automation for cost efficiency and CX. The client environment utilizing Platform X includes analytics & engineering, applications, cloud & security, modern workplace, and IT outsourcing.

Strengths

• Strong cloud partner ecosystem and dedicated practices (particularly Microsoft, AWS, VMware, and Google CP); and across DevOps tooling and suppliers and resellers
• Expanding AI, analytics, and ML capabilities, including with Infinia ML
• Ongoing investment in Platform X and CloudOps capabilities
• Zero-touch automation, agile delivery, and cloud optimization capabilities
• Investing in industry-specific GTM offerings with hyperscalers
• Integrated delivery model across all layers of the stack (apps, platform, and infrastructure), including dedicated DevSecOps and site reliability engineering resources
• Large IT infrastructure services client base across multiple sectors
• Developing XLAs to improve UX and business outcomes
• Global cloud footprint across multiple industry verticals.

Strategic Direction

DXC is looking to expand its cloud infrastructure management services capabilities through the following initiatives over the next 12-18 months:

Investing in IP and accelerators 

• Investing in Platform X service delivery platform and supporting IP and partner ecosystem integration
• DXC’s Cloud Right approach to carefully assesses the strategic, operational, financial and technical realities of the entire IT estate and provide an integrated vision for the future enterprise
• Supporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives with a focus on customers, people, and communities, and a commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices
• Expanding CloudOps, FinOps, cloud optimization, and containerization services
• Investing in edge computing and providing seamless integration and analysis from the edge to the cloud
• Increasing network capabilities around SDN and zero-trust environments as clients move into hybrid or multi-cloud environments, including utilization of Viptela/Cisco
• Focus on AIOps and partnership with Infinia ML for advanced machine learning and data analytics
• Increasing capabilities across agile, DevSecOps, and SRE to accelerate innovation
• Investing in cloud practices and joint industry offerings and GTM (AWS, Azure, Google, and VMware)
• Expanding repository of assets in GitHub to enable the development of industry-specific offerings at speed
• The increasing ecosystem of third-party tools to drive further automation use cases.

Investing in digital re-skilling

• DXC internal university master program to develop skill sets across next-gen data scientists, analytics, and cloud engineers
• Utilizing global innovation and delivery centers (GIDC) to enable skills and certifications that do not fall into the remit of the everyday role (i.e., re-skilling existing IT infrastructure personnel with new skills such as cloud technologies) and supporting new projects to upskill resources further
• Ramping digital hires in particular with cloud certifications, including Lambda, data scientists, SREs, and DevOps engineers with the ability to build a continuous delivery pipeline
• Deploying agile and SRE techniques and creating a lean culture and mindset throughout DXC Technology
• Scaling DevSecOps across tools, architecture, processes, and operating models throughout DXC

Outlook  

DXC's Cloud Right approach focuses on clients through a business lens, enabling them to make the right investment, at the right time, on the right platform. DXC will engage with clients at whatever stage they are in with their cloud journey. In support of modernization and migration services, DXC utilizes its Precision Guided Modernization framework and tools to enable a data-driven approach. It also provides advisory services, automated factory line installation, workflow automation, and automated migration planning. It then layers application treatment lines from lift and shift to cloud-native modernization of applications. DXC also applies its agile delivery model to accelerate the client's modernization journey further, utilizing IaC, DevSecOps, and SRE in support of its lean run approach.

DXC's multi-cloud management approach through Platform X supports clients in their multi-cloud journey with a single control plane to manage multiple clouds, with cloud-agnostic blueprints to provision cloud resources. It provides AIOps-enabled delivery designed for No-Ops, with key components including automation at the edge, ITSM, data hub, AIOps, and visualization. It is further utilizing cloud-native data capabilities, including AWS Data Broker. It has also created data management utilities to bring all data into a single hub framework and a data factory approach to utilize these utilities and broaden the data subjects. It will need to continue to expand its AI and ML use cases and capabilities in support of Platform X. We expect DXC to continue expanding its ecosystem of partners in this area, particularly across startups.

Another key focus area for DXC is around CloudOps, providing an SRE approach to operations and utilizing DevSecOps from an application perspective. DXC has developed an integrated delivery model across all layers of the stack (applications, platforms, and infrastructure), with dedicated CTOs, DevOps, site reliability engineers, and cloud SMEs further supporting the client's IT transformation programs. Cloud optimization helps clients take advantage of cloud-native tools and utilizes its software license management capabilities to drive cost savings in consumption design and FinOps capabilities to enforce governance and provide a view on cloud spending. This is important as clients seek to improve monitoring and observability and manage cloud spending across more complex hybrid multi-cloud environments.

DXC has developed extensive practice capabilities in support of hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and has developed a number of joint industry solutions across Azure, AWS, GCP, and VMware. We expect DXC to expand its GTM and joint innovation pursuits to support industry-specific uses cases in partnership with hyperscalers.

Finally, DXC is investing in digital re-skilling, utilizing its global innovation and delivery centers (GIDC) and internal DXC University to develop next-gen skillsets for the future. It will need to ensure it continues to ramp its dedicated skillsets in support of the client's multi-cloud initiatives, particularly across SREs.