Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 43 | Page 56

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cloud Routed joins Teraco on Africa Cloud Exchange Disaster recovery solutions specialist Routed has joined the Africa Cloud Exchange (ACX) to strengthen the ecosystem and help in driving businesses to the cloud. Vendor-neutral data centre provider Teraco, has welcomed Routed, a cloud infrastructure provider and VMware Cloud Verified partner, as a local cloud provider to join the African Cloud Exchange (ACX). Created to improve enterprise hybrid and multi-cloud performance through direct interconnection, Teraco’s ACX provides secure, direct, flexible network connections to a wide range of local and global cloud service providers. As Africa’s first VMware Cloud Verified partner, Routed now offers a VMWare cloud platform for clients seeking access to multiple cloud environments. Andrew Cruise, Managing Director, Routed, said the company is a provider of Disaster Recovery As-a-Service (DRaaS) within VMware’s vSphere 7 client software and bringing the VMware cloud platform to ACX is another key milestone. “Multi-cloud strategies are growing in adoption as they mitigate service disruption and reduce vendor lock-in. Routed as a member of ACX, strengthens the ecosystem and will undoubtedly help in driving businesses to the cloud, which is one of the fastest-growing segments of IT spend,” he said. Andrew Owens, Manager, Interconnection and Peering at Teraco, said the premise of ACX is to assist in the local drive towards the cloud, but in a secure and correct way. “While there was no time-pressure for businesses to adopt a cloud methodology, it is rapidly evolving and the cloud is becoming a vital tool for any business wanting to succeed. ACX is a technology-neutral and growing ecosystem. We are excited to welcome a local cloud provider such as Routed and its VMware platform,” he said. Owens said ACX was developed to fully integrate with all cloud providers adopting a modular, template-driven approach. Andrew Cruise, Managing Director, Routed “ACX will accommodate any cloud provider’s API. Ultimately, we want to make it easy for the providers and clients to sell their products. By simply logging on to a portal, ACX enables provisioning of network circuits to any cloud provider, immediately reducing the administrative headaches of getting people connected.” Dave Funnell, Senior Cloud Provider Manager, VMware Sub-Saharan Africa, said that in reality cloud is an operating model, not just a destination. “As such, it will often require a collaborative solution and the inclusion of Routed in the Africa Cloud Exchange is a great example of collaboration in the cloud market. The benefit to customers is the availability of a fully verified VMware Private Cloud, delivered from a secure multi-tenanted platform with all the benefits expected from a cloud solution,” he said. “Its location is also a major drawcard, with direct network connectivity to the public hyperscale clouds in the leading data centre provider in Africa.” Funnell explained that this will allow customers to accelerate the adoption of cloud services in the knowledge that their applications will run predictably in a robust, highly available environment with the flexibility required for a successful business to adapt and grow. “Working with both Routed and Teraco on this initiative has been a rewarding experience. I look forward to engaging with VMware customers of all sizes, as they take advantage of the enterprisegrade cloud services being brought to market by Routed and Teraco,” he said. • 56 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com