Mar, 2011 : Tata Communications Launches Cloud Services in Singapore

📅 March 8, 2011 - Asia Pacific businesses will benefit from the company's Infrastructure as a Service offering, combining pay-per-use applications with a global network.

Tata Communications, the global telecommunications arm of Tata Group, today launched its InstaCompute cloud offering in Singapore, covering neighboring countries: Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The company avers that InstaCompute brings scalable cloud computing services to the region's large and medium enterprises, the gaming industry, as well as global businesses with an Asia Pacific audience.

It articulates that InstaCompute is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering that is secure, elastic and on-demand. Computing and storage resources are delivered to businesses over the company's IP backbone and MPLS networks, as and when they need them. Self-provisioned and completely automated via an intuitive web interface, InstaCompute allows organizations to manage their businesses in line with growing and fluctuating market demands and rapidly evolving technology. InstaCompute uses compute and storage infrastructure from Dell. The Singapore zone is physically based in Singapore at the Tata Communications Exchange (TCX) Internet data center. InstaCompute brings with it a service agreement that is inclusive of unlimited customer support, multiple IP addresses, load balancing and firewalls as well as credits in the unlikely event of any service down time.

The company mentions that the pay-as-you-use service enables Asia Pacific businesses to quickly and easily tap into scalable, global IT infrastructure via the Internet, without the usual cost and complexities associated with IT provisioning. InstaCompute provides a delivery model that is tailored to meet both the local and global needs of Singapore and Asia Pacific businesses. It adds that the launch of InstaCompute in Singapore joins the company's recently launched India cloud platform and will be followed by launches in Europe, the US and South Africa by the end of the year.

The company states that IDC forecasts that over the next five years, Asia Pacific spending on IT cloud services will grow fourfold, reaching USD$ 4.6 billion by 2014. Spend on cloud computing will accelerate through the forecast period, with a forecasted CAGR of more than 40% across the region from 2010 - 2014. InstaCompute will free up considerable financial and managerial resources in the transition from a capex-heavy, on-premise model, to a pay-as-you-use model with hourly and monthly billing options and the choice of multiple payment methods. Customers can focus their energies on pursuing revenue generating growth opportunities, from their core business areas, while relying on the company to deliver the technology infrastructure to support their growth.

It says that the company's cloud services have several advantages over other providers, including:

• Free trial of its cloud services with full user privileges for all trial customers available at http://iaas.tatacommunications.com
• The ability to offer hybrid solutions mixing cloud services, traditional hosting and colocation services
• Direct connectivity into its Tier 1 internet backbone and MPLS network
• Pre-and-post-paid billing options in Singapore Dollars, US Dollar and Euros, using credit cards or traditional invoicing
• Web-based service access that allows administrators to quickly set up individual users and utilize project structures to allocate user access and monitor spending
  

Vinod Kumar, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Communications, said, "As one of the business and financial hubs of Asia, Singapore is strategically positioned to drive a rapidly evolving economy where businesses demand flexible and scalable infrastructure, as they pursue growth within Singapore and overseas. Singapore businesses are aggressively adopting innovative business technologies that will allow them to leapfrog on to the international stage. Singapore is where our international headquarters are based and is a key market for us."

"Tata Communications is in a strong position as a global cloud provider as a result of its extensive network portfolio. We can provide our customers with traditional network connectivity or secure MPLS VPN connectivity, all under service level agreements of the highest industry standard. Security on the network is a critical element for any customer looking to enter the cloud. Our security business forms an integral part of our customer's cloud development, rather than being an add-on after the infrastructure has been built," said David Wirt, SVP, and Global Head of Managed Services of Tata Communications.

Singapore based web developer, Magma Studios was one of the first customers to experience the benefits of InstaCompute. Aroon Tan, Managing Director, Magma Studio, said, "We are in the process of rolling out a new and exciting portfolio of video games. A critical time for us where we need to ensure we are partnering with an organization that is responsive, reliable and offers a fully managed IT service that allows us to scale up and down at a moment's notice, depending on the online traffic we receive. The InstaCompute web portal is easy-to-use and gives us instant access to IT resources. Knowing our IT is being taken care of means we can focus on our core competency of creating online games without regular investment of capital, resources and manpower. Tata Communications' global network and world-renowned data center facilities also make it the ideal cloud service provider for us."