3PAR Inc., Egenera Inc., and Inkra Networks Corporation today announced that joint customer SAVVIS Communications , a global IT utility, is introducing its virtualised utility services delivery platform within the United Kingdom.
The SAVVIS utility platform is designed for businesses that need powerful servers, storage, and networks to run their applications but do not want to invest in the infrastructure and expertise to run IT operations. Built upon virtualisation technologies from 3PAR, Egenera and Inkra and unlike the traditional service provider model which forces users to pay for excess capacity, the utility computing platform enables SAVVIS to charge customers only for the resources they use. This is made possible by routinely optimising the resources allocated to each client based on utilisation. For even greater savings and efficiencies, the solutions provided by 3PAR, Egenera and Inkra automate this process, setting the standard for today's utility computing environments.
"The technology investment that SAVVIS made in 3PAR, Egenera and Inkra has helped enable our expansion into the global marketplace," said Rob McCormick, SAVVIS chairman and chief executive officer. "After unveiling the virtualised IT services delivery platform in the US, we grew our customer base by offering a much more cost-effective IT infrastructure. Our customers such as Deluxe Entertainment and Innovest have cut IT expenses by as much as 50 per cent."
The SAVVIS virtualised utility services platform integrates 3PAR, Egenera and Inkra technologies and deploys an array of managed utility services from its world-class data centre in Reading and other centres in the US and Asia. SAVVIS is the first company to integrate networking, hosting, storage and computing into one virtualised platform and deliver end-to-end IT services to enterprises.
"The integrated, virtualised platform made possible by 3PAR, Egenera and Inkra is a great example of utility computing at work. The successful expansion of SAVVIS' utility platform demonstrates just how real utility computing is becoming," said Tony Lock, Chief Analyst, Bloor Research. "Service providers can now see a proven utility computing model in production at SAVVIS and will have to decide whether they can compete with traditional solutions or 'join 'em' with a utility computing approach."
SAVVIS is one of dozens of enterprises that have selected 3PAR Utility Storage as the right choice for their utility computing deployments. The 3PAR InServ® Storage Server is the storage cornerstone of the SAVVIS virtualised IT services delivery platform. With 3PAR, SAVVIS can reduce the total cost of storing data by 50 per cent due to the dramatic increases in capacity utilisation and reduction in administrative expense. These aggregate savings are passed along to SAVVIS customers in a business model that showcases the tangible financial benefits of Utility Storage.
"The SAVVIS deployment highlights the next-generation utility computing data centre," said David Scott, President and CEO of 3PAR. "It is a visible example to other UK and European enterprises of the right path for this next wave of computing. 3PAR is proud to be the storage choice for SAVVIS' utility computing platform."
The Egenera® BladeFrame® system virtualises data centre infrastructure by creating a pool of server resources that are easily divided into private, secured configurations. These resource configurations can be dynamically allocated to support an application and then disbanded if necessary. Server capacity is then freed from dedication to individual applications, and services can move fluidly between different hardware or network paths. This means SAVVIS clients can pay only for the resources they use. In addition, they gain access to advanced features such as high availability, disaster recovery and real-time scalability without the expense of inflexible and over-provisioned legacy systems.
"Since its introduction in late 2001, the Egenera BladeFrame system has been installed by marquee enterprises worldwide, including industry leaders in financial services, government, telecommunications, the Internet and healthcare," said Bob Dutkowsky, Egenera chairman, president and CEO. "Now, the SAVVIS virtualised services delivery platform brings the benefits of utility computing to organisations that prefer to outsource. We are pleased to be working with SAVVIS in both the US and the UK to help their customers realise lower total cost of ownership and improved IT responsiveness."
Inkra Networks Virtual Service Switches consolidate, virtualise, and automate the delivery of networking and security services, including firewall, VPN, and load balancing. By leveraging virtualised networking and security services from Inkra, SAVVIS has been able to reduce its infrastructure equipment and operations costs by more than 70 per cent.
Virtualisation brings automation and efficiency to managed service delivery, allowing customers like SAVVIS to quickly provision new services in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks. As an Inkra customer for more than two years, SAVVIS has now deployed Inkra 4000 Virtual Service Switches in five data centres worldwide. Currently, over 200 SAVVIS managed hosting customers receive dedicated virtual firewall and load balancing services delivered by Inkra Virtual Service Switches.
"SAVVIS was an early adopter of the virtualised service model, and their continued success validates the need for this solution. We are proud to be part of a strong group of technology innovators that have made it possible for SAVVIS to deliver IT services that improve IT performance, increase service flexibility and lower overall costs for business clients," said Dave Roberts, co-founder and chief technology officer of Inkra. "The Inkra VSS provides the consolidation, virtualisation and automation that is absolutely critical to drastically reduce the complexity of today's data centres."
Editors Note: For additional information , please see the release, "SAVVIS Launches Virtualised Services Delivery Platform," distributed today via Business Wire.
About Egenera Inc.
Egenera designs, markets and supports an enterprise-class datacentre computing platform, the Egenera BladeFrame system, which enables our customers to implement utility computing. This model, which we believe represents the next major transformation of the data centre environment, enables users to dynamically allocate resources to applications on an as-needed basis. Today, BladeFrame platforms are installed at customers worldwide, including America Online, Cambridge Health Alliance, Credit Suisse First Boston, Emory Healthcare, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, MChex, SAVVIS Communications, UFJ Group and others. Headquartered in Marlboro, Mass., Egenera has offices in or around Atlanta, Chicago, Hong Kong, Kansas City, London, New York City, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington D.C. For details, visit www.egenera.com, send email to info@egenera.com or call 508-858-2600.
About Inkra Networks
Inkra Networks is the leading provider of virtualized network and security infrastructure. Inkra's Virtual Service Switch integrates and virtualizes critical networking and security services—such as firewall, load balancing, intrusion detection and prevention (IDP), virtual private networking (VPN), and more—onto a single, centrally managed platform. Inkra's solutions enable a seamless evolution to a more adaptive, automated infrastructure, resulting in radical economic and manageability improvements. Inkra's solutions are commercially deployed today in leading service provider, enterprise, and government networks worldwide.
About SAVVIS
SAVVIS Communications (NASDAQ: SVVS) is a global IT utility provider that leads the industry in delivering secure, reliable, and scalable hosting, network and application services. SAVVIS' strategic approach combines the use of virtualization technology, a utility services model, and automated software management and provisioning systems. This allows customers to focus on their core business while SAVVIS ensures the quality of their IT infrastructure.
With its recent acquisition of the assets of Cable & Wireless America, SAVVIS becomes one of the world's largest providers of IP computing services and the world's third largest provider of hosting services. For more information about SAVVIS' Managed Utility Services, visit: http://www.savvis.net. For more information about SAVVIS' end-to-end media services platform including WAM!NET, visit: www.wamnet.com.
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Inkra is a registered trademark of Inkra Networks Corporation. Center Point, HardWall, OpenRack, Virtual Rack, Virtual Rack Operating System, Virtual Rack Processor, Virtual Service Architecture, Virtual Service Module, and Virtual Service Switch are trademarks of Inkra Networks Corporation.
About 3PAR
3PAR® (NYSE: PAR) is the leading global provider of utility storage, a category of highly virtualized, tightly clustered, and dynamically tiered storage arrays built for utility computing. Organizations use utility computing to build cost-effective virtualized IT infrastructures for flexible workload consolidation. 3PAR Utility Storage gives customers an alternative to traditional arrays by delivering resilient infrastructure with increased agility at a lower total cost to meet their rapidly changing business needs. As a pioneer of thin provisioning — a green technology developed to address storage underutilization and inefficiencies — 3PAR offers products designed to minimize power consumption and promote environmental responsibility. With 3PAR, customers have reduced the costs of allocated storage capacity, administration, and SAN infrastructure while increasing adaptability and resiliency. 3PAR Utility Storage is built to meet the demands of open systems consolidation, integrated data lifecycle management, and performance-intensive applications. For more information, visit the 3PAR Website at: www.3PAR.com.