Deutsche Telekom’s enterprise arm is stepping up its investment in cloud computing, constructing new server space to expand its global cloud capacity.
T-Systems has expanded one of its Munich data centers to meet growing demand for its cloud SAP services, which it said has doubled in the past eight months.
“Demand for cloud computing among our customers is growing rapidly,” managing director Olaf Heyden said. “Consequently, we are using all the new space for cloud-computing applications.”
A flurry of operator cloud announcements in the past fortnight shows that the demand is a global phenomenon.
Orange Business Services got the ball rolling, unveiling an alliance with Cisco, EMC and VMware late last month to offer cloud computing services for enterprises.
The Flexible 4 Business alliance will initially offer infrastructure-as-a-service solutions, and later expend its portfolio to include private cloud, security, back-up services and unified communications.
Orange Business will act as the service provider for the alliance, while the other partners will contribute network, server, storage and virtualization tools.
“Today’s business alliance [aims to] make cloud computing a reachable reality for global enterprises,” Orange Business CEO Vivek Badrinath said.
Elsewhere in the world, Verizon Business opened a new Hong Kong data center to expand its cloud services, offering SAP-certified communications backed up by multiple layers of security.
Japan’s NTT Communications is reportedly planning a cloud tie-up with Microsoft with sources claiming the parties will launch a service combining Microsoft's Azure platform with NTT's cloud portfolio.
The operator last week announced plans to spend HK$3 billion (€279.8 million) on a 30,000 square meter data center in Hong Kong – its biggest outside Japan – to open in 2013.
And Indian telco Tata Communications last week launched pay as you go cloud services for Indian businesses.