Conversation with ZTE's Wang Quan and Virtuozzo's JJ Jager：Defining the Next Generation of 'Inclusive' Cloud Infrastructure

At CloudFest 2025, ZTE and Virtuozzo announced their strategic partnership, introducing a Hyper-Converged Infrastructure（HCI）solution that integrates ZTE’s high-performance server hardware with Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure and S3 Object Storage software. This collaboration aims to provide a cost-effective, highly efficient cloud infrastructure that is easy to deploy and manage, designed for alternative cloud service providers and enterprises worldwide.

Through this partnership, ZTE aims to expand its presence in the broader cloud infrastructure market by leveraging its industry-leading hardware solutions. Meanwhile, Virtuozzo continues to refine its Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure and S3 offerings to deliver seamless, software-defined cloud environments. 

 
Wang Quan, VP of ZTE

Discussing about the evaluation of the HCI solution jointly released by ZTE and Virtuozzo, Mr. Wang Quan, Vice President of ZTE said: “The HCI solution jointly released by ZTE and Virtuozzo is another important milestone after the two parties signed a strategic cooperation agreement last year. The two parties are moving towards deeper cooperation.
Mr. Wang Quan highlighted several key advantages of the joint solution:
- Strong technical integration and innovation capabilities: ZTE has deep technical accumulation and R&D strength in the field of communication technology, and Virtuozzo has rich experience in hyper-converged infrastructure and virtualization solutions. The combination of the two can deeply integrate communication technology with hyper-converged technology, launch innovative solutions, and provide users with more efficient and stable IT infrastructure.
- Excellent performance: Hyper-converged architecture integrates computing, storage, network and other resources into one system, and manages them in a unified manner through software-defined methods, which can effectively improve resource utilization and application performance. In addition, by closely combining storage and processing units, data transmission delays can be reduced and overall system performance can be improved.
- Simplified management and deployment: The joint HCI solution of ZTE and Virtuozzo provides a unified management platform, allowing administrators to easily manage computing, storage, network and other resources through a single interface, reducing management complexity, management costs and workload.
- High reliability and stability: ZTE's servers and other hardware products adhere to high reliability standards and adopt a variety of protection measures to ensure stable business operation. Virtuozzo's hyper-converged architecture also has high availability and fault tolerance mechanisms, such as automatic recovery of workloads in the event of node failure. The combination of the two can provide a reliable IT infrastructure to ensure the continuity of user services.”

Regarding the future prospects of the hybrid cloud market, Wang Quan emphasized: “From a market perspective, the global hybrid cloud service market is expected to reach RMB 519.265 billion by 2029. As enterprises’ digital transformation deepens, more and more enterprises will migrate their workloads to the cloud. As a deployment model that can take into account the advantages of both public and private clouds, hybrid cloud will be favored by more enterprises.” 
“From the perspective of technical requirements, future hybrid clouds will have higher requirements.
First, technological innovation continues to advance. Artificial intelligence technology will be more widely used in hybrid clouds, achieving accurate prediction, intelligent monitoring and management, improving resource utilization efficiency, and simplifying operations. Cloud native technology will also develop further to safeguard the security of hybrid cloud services and build a loosely coupled system with efficient management and simple operation and maintenance.
Second, the application scenarios are more abundant. Hybrid cloud will be applied in more industries, such as finance, manufacturing, and medical care. For example, in the financial industry, hybrid cloud can meet the strict requirements for data security and low latency; in the manufacturing industry, it can help enterprises achieve remote monitoring and management of production equipment; in the medical industry, it can be used for the storage and analysis of medical data while ensuring the reliability and compliance of the data.
Third, the need for multi-cloud management is highlighted. As the complexity of applications and services under the hybrid cloud architecture increases, consistent service experience has become an important demand of enterprise users. Multi-level cloud integrated management and achieving consistency and standardization of user experience will become the core competitiveness of hybrid cloud products.
Fourth, security and compliance requirements increase. As data flows and is stored in hybrid cloud environments, security and compliance issues will become increasingly important. Enterprises need to strengthen data protection, ensure data transmission and storage security between public and private clouds, and meet regulatory requirements in different regions and industries.”
 

 
JJ Jager, COO and President of Virtuozzo

About the Virtuozzo's Hybrid Infrastructure and S3 Object Storage solutions possess unique qualities and exert significant influence in their respective domains, Mr. JJ Jager, COO and President of Virtuozzo stated, “Virtuozzo enables alternative cloud providers to build and scale efficient, high-performance cloud infrastructure without being locked into proprietary hardware or hyperscalers. It’s not about replacing existing cloud solutions but about giving businesses and service providers more options, more control, and more freedom of choice when it comes to their cloud strategy.

Our Hyperconverged Infrastructure and S3 Object Storage are designed for efficiency, scalability, and high performance in a hardware-agnostic environment. This flexibility is becoming increasingly important as enterprises, governments, and service providers seek cloud alternatives for reasons of cost, control, and data sovereignty.

Our storage solution is particularly powerful at scale. It is designed to serve exabytes of data while maintaining exceptional efficiency, making it ideal for service providers handling massive workloads. The tight integration of CPU, GPU, and storage enhances overall system performance, reducing latency and improving data processing speeds. Virtuozzo seamlessly integrates compute and storage, optimizing performance while significantly reducing costs - by up to 60% compared to conventional cloud infrastructure.
 
Through our strategic partnership with ZTE, we’re enhancing these benefits by combining Virtuozzo's advanced cloud software with ZTE's industry-leading hardware, ensuring seamless deployment with full compatibility. Additionally, ZTE offers 24/7 local support, with over 200 engineers in Germany and even more worldwide, ensuring immediate assistance and minimizing service disruptions.”

 Mr. JJ Jager talked about the evolving HCI, virtualization, and storage landscape reflects current industry trends that are reshaping the sector, with Virtuozzo adjusting its strategic approach to align with these developments , he indicated “The industry is seeing a major shift towards alternative cloud solutions driven by cost-efficiency, geopolitical concerns, and the need for more control over infrastructure. Many enterprises, governments, and institutions, especially in Europe, are choosing to build their own clouds instead of relying on hyperscalers like AWS, Google, and Azure.

This creates a huge opportunity for service providers, who can now offer localized, independent, and cost-effective cloud solutions with Virtuozzo’s technology, combining virtualization, storage, and networking for maximum efficiency.

Another key trend is the growing demand for GPU-powered infrastructure, especially with the rise of AI and machine learning workloads. Virtuozzo is ahead of the curve, offering optimized infrastructure with GPU acceleration, tightly integrated with compute and storage.

We also see that efficiency at scale is crucial. Storage is a major cost driver for cloud infrastructure, and our S3 Object Storage is designed for massive-scale efficiency, allowing providers to store and manage exabytes of data at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions.

At Virtuozzo, our focus is on enabling service providers with a fully functional, high-performance alternative cloud infrastructure that delivers control, scalability and cost savings. Our partnership with ZTE further enhances this, providing integrated hardware-software solutions and enterprise-grade support to enable seamless growth.”

The collaboration between ZTE and Virtuozzo marks a new era of cloud infrastructure innovation. By combining ZTE’s expertise in high-performance hardware with Virtuozzo’s advanced software-defined solutions, they are addressing critical challenges in cloud deployment, efficiency, and cost optimization.

Looking ahead, the two parties will anticipate deepening the collaboration to drive technological innovation, and help businesses worldwide build a more accessible and powerful cloud infrastructure.