Verizon pushes on with global 'everything-as-a-service' vision

Gordon Peters
Friday, 01 October 2010 00:27

IT Industry - Market

Verizon Business is undergoing an enhancement of its data centres around the world, including Australia, in a move the company says is aimed at meeting the increasing demand for the full range of cloud services and to bring it a step closer to achieving its 'everything-as-a-service' (EaaS) vision of offering cloud-based solutions on an as-needed basis to enterprises globally.

In an announcement by Verizon's senior vice president of enterprise strategy, Kerry Bailey, the company said that within the next year it will expand its flagship cloud computing services suite - Computing as a Service (CaaS) - into centres in Canberra, San Jose, California, and London.  In addition, CaaS data centres to serve US government customers will come online in Miami and Culpeper, Va., during the first quarter of 2011.

Bailey said that, as part of the infrastructure enhancement project, more than 5,500 additional server cabinets for enterprise clients also will be added to Verizon Business premium Internet data centres in Canberra, Paris, Dublin, London, Frankfurt, Belgium, Hong Kong and throughout the US.  He said the expansion further enables the delivery of private clouds via more than 200 global data centres connected to Verizon's MPLS network, Private IP.

'These moves bring Verizon another step closer to achieving its 'everything-as-a-service' (EaaS) vision of offering cloud-based solutions on an as-needed basis to enterprises around the globe.   This investment is part of the $16.8 billion to $17.2 billion that Verizon Communications plans to spend this year building, operating and integrating its advanced, reliable and high-performance networking and computing platforms.

'Verizon is committed to providing the essential foundation for the delivery of cloud services that will enable businesses to more efficiently achieve their goals through IT transformation,' Bailey said, adding that 'continued data centre expansion marks yet another milestone in achieving our EaaS vision, which will enable enterprises to do business better by getting what they need, when they need it and where they need it while only paying for those resources consumed.'

According to Bailey, early adopters of Verizon's cloud services include Modevity, Celstream, iSOFT, ISID, GWR Medical and Intelenet.  'Many are using cloud computing to drive further efficiencies within their operations as well as a way to provide corporate-wide access to applications while delivering enhanced ease-of-use for end-users.'

Bailey says Verizon's says cloud computing solutions suite, Computing as a Service, offers enterprises on-demand computing resources, including server, network and storage capacity, with high-performance and built-in security that are ideally suited to the complex needs of large enterprises. 'Enterprises have a choice between Verizon's flagship CaaS offering or its hybrid solution, CaaS enabled by VMware vCloud Datacentre, which facilitates moving applications from a private to a public cloud setting.  Clients can configure their enterprise cloud using Verizon's Private IP network or its global IP network.'  

Verizon says that it currently has CaaS data centres in Amsterdam and the US, and that a third centre in Hong Kong will come online in October.

Bailey also said that to support enterprise clients' virtualisation and computing needs, the company offers access to a range of other IT services including onsite technical support services that are provided round-the-clock, 365 days a year; remote backup and restore services; application and infrastructure management; cloud storage and remote backup and restore services; as well as a broad range of consulting services for virtualisation, cloud computing and storage. 

According to Bailey, Verizon Business is evolving to an everything-as-a-service (EaaS) model in which cloud-based, converged solutions are delivered with built-in security via managed and professional services over the company's global IP network. 

'Verizon is assembling the key components of that unique and powerful approach to serving enterprises, and this latest expansion and enhancement of the company's data and cloud centres is another step in that evolution. The EaaS platform - with Verizon's global IP network and data centres as its foundation - is at the heart of the company's strategy,' Bailey concluded.