In 1993, there were 14 million Internet users. Today, there are nearly three billion according to Internet Live Stats. The global smartphone market will reach 1.75 billion in 2014 according to eMarketer. And there are 10 billion Internet connected devices today, predicted to swell to 50 billion by 2020. Now consider most of what makes the Internet and smartphones interesting is the apps that are on them. An impressive and growing number of users are interacting daily through applications hosted in the cloud. Hosting these applications is now a tremendous opportunity for service providers.
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Service providers have a problem. Do they deploy a standard cloud management solution, similar to some competitors, that does not include customization or differentiation capabilities? Do they become a ‘me-too’ offering? To avoid this, do they spend time, money and resource trying to develop a bespoke cloud management solution? The answer to all of these is a resounding no.
You, the service provider need to identify a way either to get to market quickly, if you are not already, or to truly play in the market to gain market share. But the need for speed should not mean sacrificing functionality or the ability to future proof the cloud platform. If it does, then the risk of commoditization and not meeting customers’ requirements is high. A generic and non-differentiated platform will not help you get ahead in this fiercely competitive market.
Today we have announced our work with Russian service provider RadiusGroup to launch new cloud services. Key for RadiusGroup working with Flexiant, is Flexiant Cloud Orchestrator’s extensibility, Russian language localization and mixed billing model capabilities and available deployment options.
Recognizing the need to differentiate and open new revenue streams through cloud services, RadiusGroup investigated various build versus buy solutions for managing its new services. After investigating the Flexiant-buy strategy versus alternative build options, RadiusGroup is partnering with Flexiant because of the breadth and depth of Flexiant’s flagship product Flexiant Cloud Orchestrator Multi-Cluster Edition, combined with the rapid speed to market available through this choice. Using Flexiant, RadiusGroup will be able to offer various cloud models.
Together, RadiusGroup and Flexiant will bring a cloud solution to the market that will compete in the cloud battleground by using Flexiant. We also offer the leading cloud management solution with access to our ecosystem of technology partners.
This is the decade of the service provider. You have the opportunity to differentiate, gain competitiveness and grow in size, but we all face challenges. To help you on your journey to the cloud, we have launched our series of podcasts to offer advice for service providers looking to succeed on the cloud battleground.
Here you will find two of our newest podcasts to help you win the cloud war:
1. New! Marketing Innovations Every Service Provider Should Know
Service Providers can no longer rely on the traditional growth that they have previously seen based solely on the strength of their offerings. Ever increasing competition has made it imperative to stand out from the competition and engage in a comprehensive marketing strategy. This podcast will look at innovations and methodologies that Service Providers can use to build a loyal customer base.
Presented by Jim Foley and Joe Sherman, Flexiant
451 Research published the report ‘VMware’s vCloud Hybrid Service exhibits rapid expansion and ambitious roadmap‘ earlier this month. This confirms one of our points from our advice on 7 Reasons Why Service Providers Shouldn’t Bet on vCloud Director. Our advice followed the launch of vCloud Hybrid Service and news from VMworld 2013 that VMware introduced a new product strategy and direction for vCloud Director (vCD). The plan, in summary, is to split intellectual property currently in vCD into new integrations with vCenter and vCloud Automation Center.
451 writes in its recent report:
VMware’s new IaaS play, VMware Cloud Hybrid Service (vCHS) has been in the wild for six months, and the company reports rapid customer uptake and aggressive plans to expand geographically and move forward on vCloud and associated services. This has created tension, as well as opportunity, within the infrastructure provider community that sells VMware-based infrastructure, but the company says that while it will inevitably compete with bulk infrastructure VMware providers, it still plans to be partner-forward as much as possible.
