Microsoft rolls out Cloud OS Network, 28 providers on board

• Service providers offer Microsoft-validated cloud infrastructure and application solutions
• Customers now have even more choice in deploying hybrid solutions on Microsoft Cloud

MICROSOFT Corp has introduced the Cloud OS Network, a worldwide consortium of more than 25 cloud service providers delivering services built on the Microsoft Cloud Platform: Windows Server with Hyper-V, System Center and the Windows Azure Pack.
 
These organisations support Microsoft’s vision of a consistent platform that spans customer data centres, Windows Azure and service provider clouds, the Redmond, Washington-based company said in a statement.
 
Service providers in the Cloud OS Network offer Microsoft-validated cloud-based infrastructure and application solutions designed to meet customer needs, it added.
 
“This network of leading service providers will help our customers create data centres without boundaries for apps, data and device management,” said Takeshi Numoto, Microsoft corporate vice president of Cloud & Enterprise Marketing.
 
“That translates into greater diversity of solutions, more flexibility and lower operational costs for customers, allowing them to focus on their core business rather than managing data centres,” he added.
 
Hybrid benefits
 
Every organisation has different needs and different IT requirements for addressing those needs. With the Cloud OS Network, customers now have even more choice in deploying hybrid solutions on the Microsoft Cloud Platform – either in their data centre, in Windows Azure or, now, through a network of service providers, Microsoft said.
 
Customers also benefit from uniquely tailored, fully managed services within their local market, as well as a high degree of technical consistency across environments, which prevents vendor lock-in and enables flexibility, the company claimed.
 
As a result, customers can focus on increasing efficiencies, improving employee productivity and lowering operational costs.
 
“Enterprises in Asia Pacific are adopting the cloud on their own terms. Many have expanded across the region and operate in diverse markets with very different levels of infrastructure maturity and usage requirements,” said Arun Ulag, general manager, Cloud & Enterprise Division, Microsoft Asia Pacific.
 
“The hybrid cloud arrangements that Asia Pacific service providers offer through the Cloud OS Network enable enterprises in this part of the world to work with established partners which understand their needs from the ground up.
 
“Together, we can further corporate goals to improve on agility, cost-efficiency and the ability to deploy innovative next-generation IT services that keep businesses productive, versatile and competitive well into 2014 and beyond,” added Arun.

Asia Pacific drive
 
As cloud adoption accelerates, service providers are focused on delivering value-added services to meet customer demand for hybrid cloud solutions. By joining Microsoft in the Cloud OS Network, leading cloud service providers can quickly and cost-effectively develop new services, attract new customers and increase revenues.
 
With the Microsoft Cloud Platform, service providers have access to the capabilities of and best practices from Windows Azure, Microsoft said.
 
“There are two things in particular that we really like about our Microsoft partnership,” said Zia Zaman, vice president, Emerging Businesses & Strategy, Group Enterprise, SingTel.
 
“First, analysts like Gartner recognise Microsoft as a visionary in the cloud space. Secondly, Microsoft truly understands the enterprise.
 
“By working with a global visionary provider, we believe that our Asia Pacific customers benefit from the speed, the flexibility, and the lower cost that this visionary platform affords them,” he added.
 
Organisations within the Cloud OS Network cover more than 90 active markets around the world, serve more than three million customers every day, and operate over 2.4 million servers in more than 425 data centres, Microsoft said.
 
Partners in the Cloud OS Network which are offering services for the Asia Pacific region include: SingTel Group in Singapore and Australia, Revera in New Zealand, and VTC Digilink for Vietnam.
 
Other partners in the global initiative include, among others: Alog, Aruba S.p.A, Capgemini, Capita IT Services, CGI, CSC, Dimension Data, DorukNet, Fujitsu Finland Oy., Fujitsu Ltd., iWeb, Lenovo, NTTX, Outsourcery, OVH.com, Sogeti, TeleComputing, Tieto, Triple C Cloud Computing, T-Systems, and Wortmann AG.
 
To find out more about the Cloud OS Network and the services offered by these partners, go here.
 
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