If you ask small and medium-sized German enterprises, when it comes to cloud computing, size is not everything: this is the finding of this year-s comparative study by the Experton Group for the cloud computing market in Germany. In a field of competition considerably stronger than for the previous year-s pilot study, for the second time the market analysts identified Pironet NDH Datacenter as one of the leading providers of cloud services for small and medium-sized companies. This specialist for ICT outsourcing and cloud computing – itself a medium-sized enterprise – joins global players such as Microsoft and IBM, HP and SAP in the leaders- quadrant.
-We view the current comparative study by the Experton Group as a confirmation of our work to create a competitive cloud portfolio despite dynamic growth in the field of providers-, underscores Felix Höger, the Executive Board member in charge of the ICT outsourcing business within the Pironet NDH Group. In 2010, the Experton Group benchmark identified 11 service providers; this year, the figure has grown to 58 companies.
Success factors for SMEs: security and German clouds
The reasons Felix Höger cites include the localisation of the offerings and a consistent orientation around the special requirements of SMEs in this country. Despite increasingly well-developed offerings in the market, SMEs are still hesitant to step into the cloud. This is confirmed by the Experton Group: the main reasons cited were unresolved questions relating to data protection and compliance. -We respond to these reservations by producing all of our cloud services exclusively in our German high-security data centres. All of the systems and processes we provide are compliant with strict, internationally recognised guidelines such as the ISO Standard 27001-, Höger observes.
The cloud as opportunity for the strategic use of information technology
Felix Höger sees a second major need among SMEs for holistic cloud services embedded in a total portfolio: -As the market analysts at Experton re-emphasised: SMEs need assistance with strategic IT planning. So what they do not need are isolated offerings in the cloud.-
At Pironet NDH, cloud computing is one building block along with classic services such as managed hosting, security solutions and telecommunications services such as corporate networks, Felix Höger pointed out. -This is how we help small and medium-sized business customers use cloud computing to flexibilise fixed costs for their entire IT landscape, and not just for individual services, to make them more agile in tailoring it to their business strategy.-
Cloud computing interacting with classic outsourcing
Under the umbrella of the company-s own business cloud, Pironet NDH Datacenter offers standard applications under the -software as a service- model. In this segment, at the beginning of the year the cloud provider also unveiled a complete cloud-based Windows desktop including Microsoft Office, e-mail, and a backup and security package.
For business-critical applications such as an ERP system, business customers can subscribe with Pironet NDH for infrastructure resources on demand from the ICT provider-s business cloud. -This way, even outsourcing customers have the direct benefits of cloud technologies. While we run their core applications in an isolated system, we also provide them with cost-saving storage space and computing power from the cloud-, Felix Höger explains.
Pironet NDH Datacenter is a leading ICT outsourcing vendor for German small- and medium sized businesses (SMBs) and offers a full range of services for the efficient and secure operation of business applications and ICT infrastructures. Core services include holistic solutions and flexible cost/use billing models for the provision of IT resources according to modern on-demand concepts like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or Cloud Computing.
The centralization and outsourcing of, for example, business applications from SAP and Microsoft, as well as the use of a network infrastructure also provided by Pironet NDH Datacenter allows SMBs to significantly reduce their investment and operational expenses for the management of information and communication and concentrate on their core business tasks.
All the supply and operational aspects of the ICT outsourcing product lines are certified in accordance with strict and internationally recognised guidelines, including in accordance with DIN ISO/IEC 27001. For the client, the certification represents the operational excellence of Pironet NDH in all processes, as well as in maintaining high technical and safety-related standards.
Customers include numerous SMBs as well as international corporations. More information is available at: www.pironet-ndh.com/itk.
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