Cable & Wireless launches early adopters cloud computing scheme

Some firms need a push with their cloud computing projects

Telecoms giant Cable & Wireless has announced the start of an early adopters programme (EAP) for a forthcoming enterprise cloud computing product.

The firm said the EAP, which starts in July, will help provide firms with a clear roadmap for the implementation of cloud computing technologies, including consulting and migration strategies, and ensure the new services meet the needs of businesses.

"We're about 95 per cent of the way there with the new cloud computing products but we just want to run it through a final phase of testing with customers so we can tweak any issues that come up," said Cable & Wireless product manager Lucas Searle.

"We have around 15 companies in the EAP of medium to large size and are hoping for a couple more to join too, to give us some final insights and feedback on issues of security, flexibility, and service level agreements."

He added that the new cloud computing platform has been in development for about 12 months.

Director of commercial development at Cable & Wireless, Andrew Halliwell, said that the services should appeal to companies that prefer to work with providers with a proven track record in the enterprise market.

"Enterprise firms have shied away from providers like Google as they are not dedicated to meeting their needs and so we have looked to use our position in this market to bring in dedicated cloud services aimed at businesses," he said.

"We can also offer a range of consulting programmes, on virtualisation, cloud computing and storage issues that can help firms ensure they are fully informed when looking to move to the cloud."

The firm said its cloud services system will be provided over its next-generation network, which runs on Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS), with Halliwell saying the firm believes it is the first service provider in the EU to use UCS.

Cable & Wireless has also partnered with VMware and EMC for secure, resilient and easy-to-use cloud computing infrastructure as well as newScale's FrontOffice Suite for self-service provisioning.