3PAR announced today the 3PAR Cloud-Agile program, a new partnership initiative to promote the adoption of cloud computing and cloud-based services offered by leading providers with infrastructures powered by 3PAR Utility Storage. The 3PAR Cloud-Agile program gives partners the opportunity to promote differentiated virtual private array (VPA) and disaster recovery (DR) offerings under the respective names 3PAR Cloud-Agile: SECURED and 3PAR Cloud-Agile: ASSURED.
3PAR created the Cloud-Agile program in response to an increase in demand for enterprise IT delivered as a utility service and a corresponding uptake in 3PAR Utility Storage adoption among leading IT hosting providers. Seven of the world’s top 10 revenue-generating managed service providers as identified by the “Winter 2009 Managed Hosting Report” issued by Tier1 Research use 3PAR Utility Storage as the storage foundation for their cloud-based service offerings.
The Cloud-Agile program is designed to raise awareness for the cost and agility benefits of cloud computing services and encourage the development of a mutually beneficial, robust cloud computing ecosystem. Program participation is limited to leading hosting providers using 3PAR Utility Storage as a strategic element of their cloud-based service offerings.
3PAR Cloud-Agile program participants such as Attenda, DataPipe, Terremark, and Verizon Business say their utility storage infrastructures — built on 3PAR InServ® Storage Servers — have enabled them to distinguish themselves with an agility that is lacking from others in their market. These companies share a significant investment in 3PAR Utility Storage, which has provided a strategic advantage by enabling them to handle unpredictable growth, control costs, accelerate book-to-bill cycles, assure service levels, and efficiently deliver value-added services. For these companies, service request response times have been reduced to minutes versus days, weeks, or even months with 3PAR.
For 3PAR Cloud-Agile partners, 3PAR Utility Storage has also contributed to savings on facilities and infrastructure costs while significantly reducing storage administration time. This has meant improved time-to-revenue, lower storage total cost of ownership (TCO), and tighter alignment between costs and revenues. For example, in a survey of 3PAR’s cloud computing service provider customers, 69% of IT organizations estimated that, by using 3PAR Utility Storage to power their cloud computing services, they have saved 40% or more in total capacity as compared to traditional storage alternatives.
Under the terms of the program, participants receive expert technical training to enhance the quality of the cloud-based services that these providers are able to offer to end users. The program also offers a combination of lead sharing, sales training, and joint marketing to increase selling opportunities and grow awareness of the benefits of cloud computing. In addition, under the program, participating providers have the opportunity to offer enhanced services built on 3PAR Utility Storage under the names 3PAR Cloud-Agile: SECURED and 3PAR Cloud-Agile: ASSURED.