Thursday, October 3, 2013

Verizon Cloud Takes on AWS with On-Demand Compute, Object Storage

Verizon introduced its new cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform and cloud-based object storage service, saying its ambition is to fundamentally change how public clouds are built so that large enterprises, mid-size companies and small development shops can get the agility and economic benefit of a generic public cloud along with the reliability and scale of an enterprise-level service.

Significantly, Verizon Cloud can leverage the company’s global IP network, managed security services and global data centers, including the facilities and expertise of its Verizon Terremark division.

Verizon Cloud has two main components: Cloud Compute and Cloud Storage.

  • Verizon Cloud Compute enables users to create and deploy virtual machines in seconds.  Users pay for only what they need and can determine and set virtual machine and network performance, providing predictable performance for mission critical applications even during peak times. Additionally, users can configure storage performance and attach storage to multiple virtual machines. Previously, services had pre-set configurations for size (e.g. small, medium, large) and performance, with little flexibility regarding virtual machine and network performance and storage configuration. No other cloud offering provides this level of control. Payment can be made via credit card or purchase orders on file.
  • Verizon Cloud Storage is an object-addressable, multitenant storage platform providing safe, durable, reliable and cost-effective storage accessible from anywhere on the Web. The company said its service overcomes latency issues that have plagued many traditional storage offerings, providing improved performance.

“Verizon created the enterprise cloud, now we’re recreating it,” said John Stratton, president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions. “This is the revolution in cloud services that enterprises have been calling for.  We took feedback from our enterprise clients across the globe and built a new cloud platform from the bottom up to deliver the attributes they require.”

“We are putting control and choice back in the hands of the user, while still addressing their needs for availability, performance and security,” said John Considine, chief technology officer of Verizon Terremark. “We started from scratch, building the core components we felt necessary to achieve that goal.”

Verizon Cloud Compute and Verizon Cloud Storage are installed in Verizon cloud data centers in Culpeper, Va., Englewood, Colo., Miami; Santa Clara, Calif.; and in Amsterdam, London, and Sao Paolo. Initially, clients will be served out of the Culpeper data center, with other centers around the globe expected to be added through mid-2014

http://beta.cloud.verizon.com/
  • In 2011, Verizon Communications acquired Terremark, a global provider of managed IT infrastructure and cloud services, for approximately $1.4 billion.  At the time of the acquisition, Terremark, which is headquartered in Miami, operated 13 data centers in the U.S., Europe and Latin America (Miami, Dallas, Wash. D.C., Santa Clara, Bogota, Sao Paolo, Santo Domingo, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid and Istambul).  Prior to the deal, Verizon operated more than 220 data centers across 23 countries, including 19 premium centers and five smart centers.