Outsourcing infrastructure: 25 IaaS cloud computing companies to watch
Here's a simple summary of complex Infrastructure as a Service (or IaaS) technology: cloud-based storage, hardware, servers, network components and other products that businesses can outsource to support their operations. And it's sweeping the globe.
Because nothing is located on-site, companies and organizations escape the headaches of housing, operating and maintaining equipment — that's all done by the provider. IaaS cuts costs, too, as it eliminates the need for expensive IT equipment and large IT staffs. And the scalability potential for rapidly growing companies is almost infinite. Accessibility, too, is greatly improved.
And while the combination of third-party involvement and cloud-based infrastructure can present security issues, many IaaS adopters apparently believe there are more advantages than risks or the sector almost certainly wouldn't be expanding so rapidly.
These 25 IaaS cloud computing providers help businesses save money and time while they grow.
Digital Ocean
Industry: Software, IT
Location: New York, New York
What it does: Software developers use DigitalOcean to deploy and scale their applications without worrying about managing infrastructure. The company offers scalable compute services, managed databases and much more.
Navisite
Industry: Cloud Security, Finance
Location: Andover, Massachusetts
What it does: Navisite's provides cloud infrastructure and hosting services for business that want to outsource IT infrastructures.
IBM Cloud
Industry: Cloud Data Services
Location: Armonk, New York
What it does: IBM Cloud's hybrid cloud infrastructure services help facilitate flexibility and portability for applications and data. Its public and private cloud servers are configurable by the month or hour, and can supply and scale on demand.
Microsoft Azure
Industry: IT, Software
Location: Redmond, Washington
What it does: Microsoft Azure IaaS provides highly scalable bare-metal infrastructure and offers a broad set of hybrid capabilities for applications, data, identity, security and management across on-premises and cloud environments.
Google Compute Engine
Industry: Virtual Machines, Networking
Location: Mountain View, California
What it does: Google Compute Engine provides scalable, high-performance virtual machines that boot quickly and offer persistent disk storage.
Green Cloud Technologies
Industry: Software, IT
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
What it does: Green Cloud offers Cisco-shared, dedicated private and hybrid virtual server solutions that provide data center, backup and restoration services for businesses of all sizes.
OpenStack
Industry: Software, Open Source
Location: Austin, Texas
What it does: OpenStack is a free and open-source cloud computing platform that provides on-demand tools, including virtual servers, data storage and networking resources.
CenturyLink Cloud
Industry: IT, Network Security
Location: New York, New York
What it does: CenturyLink Technology Solutions offers cloud-based enterprise hosting services that facilitate adaptive networking, IT agility and connected security.
CloudSigma
Industry: Web Hosting
Location: New York, New York
What it does: CloudSigma provides an array of cloud computing resources, including servers, "digital energy" and data storage.
Rackspace
Industry: IT, Software
Location: New York, New York
What it does: Using technologies developed by VMWare, Microsoft and others, Rackspace provides hybrid cloud services that include managed hosting, application database management and more.
VMware
Industry: Software
Location: New York, New York
What it does: VMware's many services include the VMware Cloud Foundation platform, which provides storage, compute and networking.
INAP (formerly SingleHop)
Industry: IT
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What it does: INAP provides highly scalable infrastructure services — including cloud IaaS, dedicated hosting and managed cloud solutions — to a wide range of companies and organizations.
ServerCentral
Industry: Cloud Data Services, Web Hosting
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What it does: ServerCentral provides infrastructure management and support through its flexible cloud migration methodology that lets users move from traditional server environments to their choice of private or public clouds.
Citrix Workspace Cloud
Industry: Software, Virtualization
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
What it does: Citrix Cloud's IaaS service lets users quickly deploy secure digital workspaces on a public or private cloud, and includes virtual apps and desktops, endpoint management, content collaboration and more.
IronOrbit
Industry: IT, Web Hosting
Location: Anaheim Hills, California
What it does: IronOrbit operates a nationwide network of separate data centers that safeguard users' important data via round-the-clock server support and maintenance.
Hyve Solutions
Industry: Data Storage, Hardware
Location: Fremont, California
What it does: A division of Synnex, Hyve Solutions designs and deploys cost-effective and energy-efficient rack-level servers, storage and networking solutions that are customized based on a user's specific needs.
Togglebox
Industry: Web Hosting
Location: New York, New York
What it does: A TekTonic brand, Togglebox provides high-performance, customizable cloud hosting powered by the OnApp Cloud and Storpool SANs.
ElasticHosts
Industry: Web Hosting
Location: London, England
What it does: A subsidiary of web domain/hosting giant GoDaddy, ElasticHosts provides easy-to-use, managed cloud servers with the capacity for scalable Web hosting and on-demand burst computing.
VEXXHOST
Industry: Web Hosting
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
What it does: With the goals of reducing expenses and increasing productivity, OpenStack-affiliated Vexxhost works with customers to help design, build and optimize their cloud infrastructure.
LayerStack
Industry: Web Hosting
Location: Hong Kong
What it does: With data centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Los Angeles, LayerStack offers high-performance cloud service that's built on OpenStack's redundant platform. Benefits include one-click OS Installation, root administrator access and a feature-rich control panel with lots of graphic-interface options.
Red Hat
Industry: Software, Linux
Location: New York, New York
What it does: Red Hat provides OS platform applications, management solutions and many other services. The company's enterprise Linux operating system platform is for use in hybrid cloud environments, and its satellite system management product facilitates hybrid cloud deployment, scaling and management.
GigeNET
Industry: Web Hosting
Location: Arlington Heights, Illinois
What it does: GigeNET's infrastructure services include colocation (renting space to store servers and hardware in a third-party data center), managed dedicated hosting by a dedicated support and engineering team, storage services and much more.
Verizon Enterprise Infrastructure Services
Industry: Software, IT
Location: New York, New York
What it does: Verizon's IaaS product is flexible and scalable, with colocation and hybrid solutions, managed hosting options and other tools to help businesses streamline operations, improve customer experiences and expand e-commerce opportunities.
Alibaba Cloud
Industry: Cloud Data Services, Data Center
Location: Hangzhou, China
What it does: Alibaba Cloud provides pay-as-you-go cloud computing and data management services that include storage, processing and content delivery networks.
Amazon Web Services
Industry: IT, Software
Location: Seattle, Washington
What it does: Amazon's AWS has been offering digital infrastructure services to businesses since 2006 that reduce IT workload, save money and deliver faster results. Today it's in 190 countries.
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