AT&T today announced enhancements to its cloud-based offers, a new cloud-based mobile application, and increased third-party development and industry activity to deliver cloud capabilities that can help businesses reduce IT costs.
The company also said it continues to work with IBM, VMware and others to enhance its cloud offers.
Specifically, AT&T announced:
* Enhanced Computing Offer: Among other new features, customers can now more easily tie their cloud computing systems to AT&T’s world class network, creating “virtual private cloud” environments that deliver computing services on-demand and help reduce IT costs.
* Enhanced Storage Offer: AT&T has enhanced its cloud-based storage offer with features that help companies meet corporate governance and compliance requirements.
* Cloud-based Mobile App: A new mobile application extends AT&T’s cloud capabilities to users on the go who need to store and access content remotely in a highly-secure manner.
* Increased Third-Party Activity: AT&T is allowing cloud computing vendors and third- party developers to assemble capabilities based on its networking technologies that will allow business customers to derive more benefits from AT&T cloud solutions.
* Security Alliance Participation: AT&T is participating in a working group with the Cloud Security Alliance to define cloud-based security-as-a-service offers.
“With cloud-based solutions powered by AT&T’s global network, we can enable companies to become more efficient, more mobile, and more nimble while helping to control their costs,” said John Stankey, President and CEO, AT&T Business Solutions. “It’s a powerful combination of benefits for companies operating in an economy that continues to challenge all businesses, no matter how large or small.”
“We believe business caliber clouds need to run on a robust virtual private network and we see AT&T as offering one of the best business class VPN services,” said Scott Stainken, general manager, IBM global telecommunications industry.
In addition, AT&T recently said IBM’s Cloud Service Provider Platform is one of the best for cloud computing and noted that IBM technology is being used in its new release of AT&T Synaptic Compute as a ServiceSM. IBM uses AT&T’s VPN capabilities and both companies have said that integrated solutions combining an IT cloud computing platform and a virtual private network would be a prime differentiator for business class cloud services.
