Infonetics Research: Operators Embracing Cloud Services

CAMPBELL, CA - Seventy percent of network operators responding to a new survey by Infonetics Research said they are investing in cloud services in anticipation of demand. The operators' top strategies for offering cloud services are bundling cloud services with network connectivity services and offering cloud services over Ethernet or IP VPN services.

Ninety-five percent of operators responding to the survey already offer infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and smaller data center providers said they plan to move from simple colocation support offerings to IaaS by adding computer and storage hardware, rather than by getting into the complexities of offering OS software platforms.

More sophisticated offerings, such as platform as a service, which includes server operating systems, and software as a service, which includes applications such as e-mail and security services, are provided by fewer operators, but Infonetics expects these offerings to grow significantly by 2013.

Survey respondents included incumbent, competitive, data center and cable operators worldwide that offer cloud services now or plan to by 2013.

Sam Barnett, Infonetics Research's directing analyst for data center and cloud, notes, "Service providers around the world have embraced the cloud concept in earnest and are heavily investing in new services and service delivery platforms based on their particular areas of expertise. Internet content providers are leading with SaaS, data center and colocation operators are adding IaaS to their product portfolios and investing in additional infrastructure facilities, and traditional telcos are building on their existing networks and adding a range of services."