MANILA, Philippines — A local cloud services provider opened on Wednesday a one-stop-shop Web portal that gives customers instant access to the company’s various public cloud-based offerings in just a few clicks of the mouse.
Launched under the banner cloud.com.ph, the IP-Converge portal will give potential cloud customers the chance to shop around the provider’s offerings in the cloud, which include servers, applications, and disaster recovery options.
Unlike traditional on-premise hardware systems, servers in the cloud are accessed and deployed off of a provider’s data center — meaning outside your company’s premises — and can be quickly tweak to match CPU, RAM, and storage requirements.
The company claims cloud.com.ph is the first portal of such kind in the country, as it allows customers to instantly provision cloud services in a way similar to how they shop for products online — instant and hassle-free.
And just like other e-Commerce stores available today, businesses can easily set up servers, build applications, or store their data quickly and pay for it via credit or debit card, as well as other online payment options.
According to Edgar Gutierrez, vice president for carrier relations and special projects at IP-Converge, the service is primarily targeted at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines who stand to benefit the most from cloud-based IT infrastructure and services.
“It gives SMEs access to the same business applications used by large enterprises at a much lower cost, giving them the time to focus on growing their business and not worry about the technical aspect,” Gutierrez said.
Aside from convenience, the provider said employing cloud-based IT facilities takes out the need to set aside capital funds for rolling out IT systems, and instead makes IT a utility, just like water or electricity, that is paid on a per-usage basis.
“The big plus with cloud.com.ph is that it features highly flexible subscription packages that allow customers to pay only for what they use. Subscriptions can go anywhere from annual to monthly to daily, or even on a per hour basis — an important factor for companies with tight budgets,” it added.
The cloud.com.ph portal will house majority of the providers services already being offered to local companies, such as Linux and Windows servers, disaster recovery and second-site servers, as well as business applications that include a payroll service software, an enterprise resource planning software, and a school management software.
As a promotion for its initial offering through the portal, the company is offering a free trial of its Linux Server Level 2 product, which includes a LINUX Cloud Server (CentOS), 1 CPU Core, 1GB RAM, and 5GB of Storage Area Network, available until July 31, 2012.
All the services will be delivered off the company’s telco-grade and carrier-neutral data centers located at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and at the RCBC Plaza in Makati.
“By converging our expertise in data center operations, telecommunications networking, and cloud computing, we are able to deliver a true cloud service that enables organizations to focus on their core business and grow bigger, faster” noted IP-Converge President Reynaldo Huergas.
“We believe that the cloud will be the standard model for the delivery of information to the enterprise, and we are happy to bring this capability to Philippine businesses today,” he added.
IP-Converge is part of the IP Ventures Group of companies, a technology conglomerate that also operates IP E-Games, an online gaming publisher and owner of a vast network of Internet cafe chains in the country.
Just recently, however, majority shares of IP-Converge, a publicly listed company, has been purchased by a property group located in the Visayas and Mindanao regions called Januarius Resources Realty Corp. Holdings Inc.
Nonetheless, the buyer was buying into a shell company since IP-Converge recently transferred most of its assets back to a private holdings company of IP Ventures.
source: interaksyon.com
