new services expand cloud portfolio while enterprises look to Orange for cloud benefits
Orange Business is successfully delivering on its promise and creating notable momentum in the cloud computing market. At a global press event in Paris on Dec. 7, Orange Business confirmed its cloud computing ambition and strategy as part of its conquests 2015 program while highlighting some key successes in 2010 and previewing its cloud computing plans for the coming year. Cloud computing is one of the key growth drivers defined by Orange Business in line with its five-year plan and the company aims to generate 500 million euros on cloud computing in 2015.
The ambition of Orange Business is to make it easy for customers to access the IT resources they need by providing a one-stop-shop for a range of cloud computing services. By taking an integrated approach, Orange Business can deliver network and IT with end-to-end service level commitments.
Orange Business is offering five new services that span the cloud computing portfolio and fall under the solution categories of cloud-ready network, Infrastructure as a Service and Software as a Service:
- Cloud-ready network solution, Business VPN Galerie
- Infrastructure as a Service solutions
- Flexible Computing Premium
- Backup as a Service
- Software as a Service solutions
- Private Applications Store
- Desktop Virtualization
Leading enterprises such as Louis Vuitton (Infrastructure as a Service), Arkema (Backup as a Service) and Cirque du Soleil (Collaboration as a Service) trust Orange for cloud computing services.
cloud-ready network
Leveraging its cloud-ready network, Orange Business is launching Business VPN Galerie, the world’s first hub linking VPN customers to the world of cloud computing services via trusted network gateways. This cloud-ready network solution benefits both enterprises and cloud services providers. Business VPN Galerie provides enterprises with increased access reliability to cloud services than what is possible over the Internet while addressing their primary concern of security. Cloud computing services providers benefit from Business VPN Galerie because it allows them to deliver their applications with the same outstanding customer experience but in a cloud computing mode. The solution is available in France with 12 customers already signed, among which is GiFi, a European retailer with 345 stores. An international pilot is planned for Q1 2011.
Infrastructure as a Service
Orange Business enhanced its Infrastructure as a Service portfolio with new services in its Flexible Computing Services range and Backup as a Service. Customers have a choice between shared and fully dedicated solutions, addressing the various needs and types of enterprises. SMEs tend to prefer packaged, cost-effective solutions and accept a shared infrastructure, while some large multinationals will only accept a fully dedicated infrastructure. In many cases, companies prefer a hybrid solution.
- Flexible Computing Premium is a shared solution designed for large businesses, making it possible to combine flexibility, personalization and quality of service. Flexible Computing Premium is a flexible and modular services catalog allowing enterprises to build a customized infrastructure. The solution includes a choice of four service management levels complemented by SLAs up to 99.9 percent.
- Backup as a Service from Orange Business is delivered through infrastructure hosted and managed in Orange data centers, based on EMC Avamar technology, and covered by performance SLAs. Professional services for design, implementation and management are included. The customer’s backup policy can be personalized and security can be adjusted based on the value of the data. Arkema, a world leader in chemical manufacturing, is the first Backup as a Service customer for Orange Business.
Software as a Service
Cirque du Soleil, the world-renowned entertainment provider, has chosen Orange Business to implement messaging and collaboration services with the Microsoft Office 365 cloud platform. Initially, Orange Business is delivering Microsoft Exchange Online and SharePoint Online to thousands of Cirque du Soleil employees around the world, adding collaboration tools with the needed flexibility to adapt to the constantly evolving workforce demands.
Orange Business is piloting its Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) solution, part of the Collaboration as a Service portfolio, with three customers. UCaaS enables access to innovative and unified collaboration solutions, including IP Telephony, delivered as a service. UCaaS increases the efficiency and productivity of employees while gaining flexibility and reduced costs with the “as a service” model. Orange Business hosts and manages the platform in Orange data centers and therefore takes the management burden away from the customer. A comprehensive and user-friendly portal enables administrators to manage users and assign one of the pre-defined user profiles in just a few clicks. UCaaS can be a shared, dedicated or hybrid solution depending on what the customer prefers and pricing is on a per-user, per-profile basis.
- Private Applications Store, launched today, is an innovative way to provide a unified catalog of applications across an enterprise without deploying anything on the company premises or the users’ PCs. Orange Business provides a comprehensive catalog of applications and services whether operated by Orange, the customer or a third party. The applications and services are easily accessible through a customizable portal available from multiple locations and devices such as the office, home and smartphones. Private Applications Store comes with a choice of service management levels to adapt quality of service to different user categories. A validation workflow process enables administrators to keep control over usage and costs. The solution is fully dedicated to each enterprise yet charged on a pay-per-use model.
- Desktop Virtualization is another cloud computing offer from Orange Business available as a dedicated infrastructure deployed either on customer premises or partially hosted in Orange data centers. Desktop Virtualization allows companies to deliver end-user work environment as a simple network service removing the hassle of managing distributed PCs across different locations. By keeping the entire user settings – application, profile and data – in a single safe location, it enables secure access to the work environment anywhere, anytime, and from any device.
Fidal, a business law firm servicing 150 countries on five continents, has improved the productivity of its employees with Desktop Virtualization from Orange Business. To cope with high volumes of messaging data and storage requirements as well as numerous business applications such as legal, accounting and tax that require several updates a year, Orange Business proposed a complete Desktop Virtualization solution including desktop, applications, user profiles, servers and storage. This on-premises dedicated cloud computing solution has provided Fidal with a highly agile IT environment, allowing business users to access their entire working environment from any place using any device at any time while complying with strict legal and confidentiality regulations. Deployments and upgrades of applications are easy and seamless with minimal service disruptions. Consequently, lawyer productivity significantly increased and directly benefited the company’s bottom line.
About Orange Business
Orange Business, the France Telecom Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is a leading global integrator of communications solutions for multinational corporations. With the world’s largest, seamless network for voice and data, Orange Business reaches 220 countries and territories with local support in 166. Offering a comprehensive package of communication services covering cloud computing, enterprise mobility, M2M, security, unified communications, videoconferencing, and broadband, Orange Business delivers a best-in-class customer experience across a global landscape. Thousands of enterprise customers and 1.4 million users rely on an Orange Business international platform for communicating and conducting business. Orange Business is a four-time winner of Best Global Operator at the World Communication Awards. Learn more at www.orange-business.com
About Orange
Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With more than 131 million customers, the Orange brand covers internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates. At the end of 2009, France Telecom had sales of 44.8 billion euros (33.7 billion euros for the first nine months of 2010). At Sept. 30, 2010, the Group had a total customer base of 203 million customers in 32 countries. These include 144.5 million mobile customers and 13.3 million broadband Internet (ADSL, FTTH) customers worldwide. Orange is one of the main European operators for mobile and broadband Internet services and, under the brand Orange Business, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.
With its industrial project, "conquests 2015", Orange is simultaneously addressing its employees, customers and shareholders, as well as the society in which the company operates, through a concrete set of action plans. These commitments are expressed through a new vision of human resources for employees; through the deployment of a network infrastructure upon which the Group will build its future growth; through the Group's ambition to offer a superior customer experience thanks in particular to improved quality of service; and through the acceleration of international development.
France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.
For more information (on the Internet and on your mobile): www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com, www.orange-innovation.tv
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Brand Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom.