Unisys to provide infrastructure, software and services as part of Colt’s enterprise cloud offering, enabling businesses to access IT services more efficiently at lower cost.
25 October 2010
Colt (LSE: COLT), Europe’s leading information delivery platform, today announced that it has entered into a contract with Unisys Limited, Unisys Corporation’s (NYSE: UIS) European subsidiary, to provide Colt Technology Services with infrastructure, cloud management software and services. After the initial UK implementation, the companies intend to provide the services from an additional six data centres within Colt’s European network. Both Colt and Unisys will use this environment to deliver cloud-based services to their customers throughout Europe.
Under the initial three-year agreement, Unisys will implement a cloud computing environment, which will be installed in Colt’s secure data centre. Colt will provide a range of infrastructure, platform and virtualised desktop services based on this platform.
These new services will form an essential part of Colt’s overall enterprise cloud strategy and are intended to increase customers’ flexibility in accessing IT infrastructure and software resources on an ‘as-needed’ basis while minimising capital costs. The services from Unisys will address the complex software and hardware architecture underpinning existing customer applications – enabling them to move “as is” to a cloud operating model. This complements Colt’s recently-announced VMware vCloud™ Datacenter services which allow customers to rapidly establish a secure hybrid cloud environment, spanning customer data centres and Colt’s enterprise cloud with consistent infrastructure, security and management models for virtualised applications as well as new applications.
Unisys will manage its cloud-based infrastructure using the Unisys Converged Remote Infrastructure Management Suite of solutions. These ITIL-compliant, best practice IT management services will be integrated into Colt’s existing ITIL V3 Service Operation.
“This is a significant business relationship for Colt. Combining our high-performance network and data centre services with Unisys’ extensive IT and cloud-solution expertise, we are able to further demonstrate our position as a leading provider of a range of best-in-class cloud-based offerings,” said Richard Oosterom, managing director, Colt Managed Services. “This relationship complements our recent announcement with VMware as the first European based partner with a VMware vCloud™ Datacenter Services offering and it expands on our current cloud portfolio.”
“The vCloud Datacenter Services provide a new secure hybrid cloud model to deliver innovation, agility and flexibility with consistent architecture, security and management. Today we add to that offering with services brought to market with Unisys, addressing the issue of deploying and managing complex existing architectures. This will enable Colt to offer customers a range of enterprise cloud services giving the performance, reliability and real-time response to dynamic business changes they require from cloud services,” added Oosterom.
Ron Frankenfield, president, Unisys Global Outsourcing and Infrastructure Services, said, “Businesses in all industries are beginning to explore cloud computing as a key way to provide services to their customers more quickly and cost efficiently than in the past. Unisys is pleased to be working with Colt, a clear innovator in business communications and IT managed services, to bring the operational and financial benefits of cloud computing to Colt and Unisys customers across Europe.”
The cloud computing environment and services provided by Unisys will enable Colt to provide a range of services to customers:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – a scalable server environment that enables a customer to add and delete virtual and non-virtual servers on demand to meet fluctuating resource requirements.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) – a layer of standard middleware, such as Microsoft® .NET, JBoss and other software stacks, that runs on top of the IaaS environment to make it easier for clients to move their applications to the cloud without significant modification.
- Software as a Service (SaaS) – initially providing virtual desktop as a service for access to standard software suites that many companies provide for their end users.
About Colt
Colt is Europe’s leading information delivery platform, enabling its customers to share, process and store their vital business information. An established leader in delivering integrated networking and IT managed services to major organisations, midsized businesses and wholesale customers, Colt operates a 19-country, 25,000km network that includes metropolitan area networks in 34 major European cities with direct fibre connections into 17,000 buildings and 19 Colt data centres. In 2010, the Colt Data Centre Services business was launched to deliver innovative high quality modular data centres which are rapid to deploy and power efficient.
Colt is listed on the London Stock Exchange (COLT). Information about Colt and its services can be found at www.colt.net
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialize in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilization of their data centres, enhance support to their end users and constituents, and modernize their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services, and high-end server technology. With approximately 23,000 employees, Unisys serves commercial organisations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com
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