AT&T Corp. and IBM Corp. this week announced a new “network-enabled” cloud service, which they say uses private networks rather than the public Internet.
The service, which will be launched early next year, will be made up of AT&T virtual private networking equipment, IBM SmartCloud Enterprise+ cloud capabilities and technology from AT&T Labs. It will be targeted at Fortune 1000 organizations.
According to the two companies, when customers of the new service connect to IBM cloud computing resources across AT&T’s virtual private network, the technology integrates the security protections of both, allowing customers to shift information or applications between their own data centres (private clouds) and the new cloud service.
“As more organizations realize that cloud can be secure, easily managed, and a key part of their business strategy, (it) will quickly evolve as a tool for innovation rather than just for infrastructure,” said Erich Clementi, senior vice president of IBM global technology services.