BT is preparing to launch new Virtual Data Center (VDC) service for large business and public sector organizations. Based on a cloud-computing model, the VDC provides a dynamic and virtualized infrastructure platform that enables organizations to consume their IT and networking infrastructure as a service.
BT Virtual Data Center service will, uniquely in the market, be rolled-out across datacenters in multiple countries in EMEA and this will enable BT to provide true enterprise class services. BT said the second key differentiator with competitors is that it offers servers, storage, networks and security that is orchestrated and automatically provisioned through an online portal. Customers can change the infrastructure easily in real-time throughout the duration of the contract through the portal. BT customers will also be able to virtualize many of their networking and IT needs to the required service levels. By using BT's enterprise class infrastructure, BT VDC delivers to large organizations the benefits of enterprise class "cloud computing" to customers at a significant saving against a standard hosted infrastructure deployment.
As part of the BT VDC offering, customers will be able to purchase virtualized components and access them over a pre-provisioned infrastructure. Virtual server, storage, security and networking capabilities will be available, automated and orchestrated through an online portal and supported by a single service desk.
BT Global Services is planning several new service launches this year. These include:
- BT Onevoice -- a global voice solution with a roadmap approach to Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC). BT has developed a range of services, offering advances in features, access and the very latest voice technology.
- BT Unite -- new to the market this year, BT Unite features a range of packages that bring together the best and most-requested UCC elements from Cisco, Microsoft and IBM and delivers a fully integrated solution.
- BT MobileXpress -- enables mobile and remote employees to access corporate networks and applications securely and reliably via fixed or wireless connections. During 2009, BT is evolving BT MobileXpress' security and remote management capabilities.
- BT Unified Video -- featuring the latest video conferencing technologies to ensure that customers can continue to have face-to-face interaction in meetings, while cutting down on costs associated with travel.
- BT Carbon Impact Assessment -- measures a customer's carbon footprint and energy consumption, before outlining the sustainable practices and communication technologies that can help them lower emissions, reduce costs and increase efficiency. BT has tried and tested the Carbon Impact Assessment (CIA) and was able to help one customer save an estimated GBP 30 million over five years.
- BT Intelligent Networks -- a family of services which includes the recently launched BT Intelligent Virtual Private Network (BTiVPN), BT Etherflow and Wide Area Network Optimisation technologies.
- BT Managed Security Services -- end-to-end security that protects customers' infrastructure from ever-evolving threats and enables compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. BT currently monitors over 335,000 devices, for almost 1000 MSSP customers around the world and provides over 300 million secure connections per day in over 1,000 cities across 70 countries. BT is investing in a new global, harmonized MSS platform which further improves the service.
- BT Next Generation Contact Centers (NGCC) -- provides fully hosted contact center capability for customers deploying contact center services all around the world. This means that organizations can benefit from world class contact center features without the need to deploy technology at the location, enabling rapid roll out of agents and pricing on a pay as you go basis that allows extra agents to be added and then removed to staff to peak periods. For 2009, NGCC includes enhanced geographic resilience, providing 99.99 per cent availability and per minute pricing.
