Intel offers pay-as-you-go hybrid cloud apps for small businesses

Intel has launched a hybrid cloud offering, dubbed AppUp Small Business Service, designed to let small businesses try cloud services on a pay-as-you-go basis, while retaining company data in-house.

The company has signed up manufacturers to produce Xeon servers built around its Hybrid Cloud reference design, which can be leased on a three-year basis to SMBs by their service provider.

The server comes with an Intel middleware layer and a catalogue of applications that can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis.

"We designed this to be complementary, not competitive, to other providers like Amazon and other OEM offerings. We wanted to address a gap in the market where more support is required," said Bridget Karlin, general manager of Intel Hybrid Cloud.

"Having their data on premise is an advantage to small businesses, and they can pay as they use, without going to managed service providers to get licences. You can be paying a few dollars a month per user, as compared to five times that with licences."

Microsoft, Symantec, McAfee, Novell and Coversant are among the vendors to sign up to provide applications. Intel's software monitors what is used and bills the company's service provider, as well as providing remote support for the server.

Intel is hoping that service providers will supply their own offering using the platform by tailoring bundles of application to clients' needs. Intel also said that it should have no problems porting new third-party applications to the platform within a week or two.

Lenovo has signed up to produce the ThinkServer TS200v single-socket server for the service, along with unspecified white box manufacturers.

NEC and Acer will bring out two-socket servers by the end of the year, and more OEMs are expected in 2012, as well as additions to Intel's application portfolios.

"Sysytem vendors not are not focused on SMBs," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, told V3.co.uk. "Most go for the easy money in enterprise cloud systems. This offers a middle groud."