IHS Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | Verizon has announced its latest addition to the CaaS portfolio offering a range of computing resources on a flexible, as-needed basis. |
Implications | Carriers are building up internet data centre capacity to provide these services, making a tempting target for hardware vendors. |
Outlook | There are a number of advantages for businesses outsourcing some computing functions, particularly for smaller businesses that will benefit from the scale and range of facilities available, but psychological barriers remain to both enterprise use of CaaS and the cloud computing paradigm that it particularly supports. |
Verizon Business has announced the launch of what it describes as the "industry's most comprehensive on-demand 'cloud-based' Computing as a Service (CaaS) solution". The service leverages Verizon's global IP infrastructure and network of data centres to provide mid-sized to large companies with access to computing resources on an as-needed basis.
Managed through a web portal, this service allows businesses to constrain expenses while meeting peak capacity requirements without buying new equipment or adding to staff support levels. This is targeted at supporting the requirements for new capacity and situations such as mergers and migrations where seamless shifts in IT resources are required. The needs of new development projects, major events or promotions, and seasonal fluctuations in demand on websites and services can also be met with the CaaS products, which support web-based or corporate applications on the public IP network or the MPLS-based private IP network. This will also provide mid-sized customers with enterprise level computing resources on demand. It is noted that Verizon data centres are audited for physical security while the infrastructure is protected through the Cybertrust Security Management programme, secure connections to customer resources, and a multi-tiered network with virtual firewall and a system change audit trail. In addition, Verizon offers identity and access management, host intrusion, detection, application vulnerability assessment, network application assessment, and professional security services.
A self-service portal that is part of the "Verizon Enterprise Centre" allows customers to provision and manage physical servers dynamically (e.g. for critical applications that can benefit from customisation) and virtual servers (e.g. for development work; see United States: 27 March 2009: Verizon Pushes Virtualisation Through Consulting), network devices, storage, and backup services.
Nancy Gofus, Verizon's senior vice-president of global product development, noted that: "With Verizon CaaS, we are ushering in a new era of computing; one that offers enterprises security, resiliency and scalability on demand with a whole new level of flexibility and a low cost structure".
The service will be immediately available in the United States and Europe before being rolled out to the Asia-Pacific region in August.
Outlook and Implications
Computing as a Service (e.g. software as a service, networked storage, utility computing) products help companies to punch above their weight in IT resources, offering flexibility and scalability without capital outlay. The cloud computing paradigm also facilitates server-based provision and processing of applications and services, which pushes up the capabilities of client devices. The growing market for collaborative applications and services are particularly suited to the paradigm that centralises processing and storage requirements.
Carriers Develop Cloud Offerings
Although Verizon stakes a claim as "the industry's most comprehensive" on-demand solution, major carriers and business service providers around the world are building up their data centre capacities to support the cloud computing paradigm. For example, AT&T launched its synaptic hosting product in 2008 and continues to add to the portfolio of cloud or utility computing services (see United States: 19 May 2009: AT&T to Offer Cloud Storage Service and United States: 6 August 2008: AT&T to Launch Cloud Computing Products).
Vendors Target Cloud Business
The viability of the cloud computing paradigm comes through the increasing capabilities of the networks to connect computing elements, but this also requires significant investment in internet data centres to provide the processing capacity for services (see World: 25 February 2008: AT&T Describes Plans for US$1-bil. Global Investment). This has made the server and data centre equipment market increasingly attractive, and Cisco recently entered this segment of the market—a move that has been viewed as potentially alienating existing partners (see World: 18 March 2009: Cisco Pushes into Data Centres with Server Initiative). The vision behind several of Cisco's recent deals is also one of utilising the cloud computing paradigm data and applications that are provided over the network, with its own portfolio of collaboration products supporting easy collaboration among users with fully managed services (see World: 22 September 2008: Cisco Acquires Message Company, Jabber; Closes PostPath Acquisition).
Juniper has also targeted the cloud paradigm, with new products diversifying from the core internet routing products. The "Stratus Project" aims to develop a new data centre fabric that can dynamically allocate resources including routing, security, storage appliances, and servers with flexibility and capability for scaling up to enable "mega data centres" and meet the demands of emergent cloud computing paradigms—a stratus being a flat, single-layer cloud (see World: 25 February 2009: Juniper Ups R&D Spending But Cuts Salaries in Flat Market).
Giving Low-Spec Devices Advanced Capabilities:
SK Telecom recently launched a service that particularly aimed to facilitate access through both wired and wireless client devices, leveraging the benefits of cloud-based processing (see South Korea: 25 May 2009: SK Telecom to Offer Solution Rental Services for Corporate ClientsQualcomm Targets Low-Cost Fixed Internet Device with Reference Chipset). Device and client operating system vendors are also tapping into the cloud paradigm with internet widgets usually relaying on network-based resources accessed through a browser (see World: 10 February 2009: Microsoft Launches "Cloud" Service for Mobiles, Plans "Online Bazaar" and World: 23 March 2009: Windows Mobile Readying for Widgets). Qualcomm minimised equipment costs in its recent low-cost computing design by basing the design on utilisation of networked resources (see World: 13 November 2008: Qualcomm Targets Low-Cost Fixed Internet Device with Reference Chipset).
The cloud computing paradigm offers many advantages from both the service providers' and users' perspectives but mainly faces psychological barriers from IT departments used to being the master of their own physical domain, and similar psychological barriers for users who would suffer degraded or non-existent service in a network outage and are often reluctant to store data remotely and centrally.