AT&T, which in May 2009 joined Verizon Communications as telecom companies in the cloud storage business, is branching out its online service menu with the help of VMware and Sun Microsystems.
 
The nation's largest telecom Nov. 16 introduced a new cloud subscription-based service that gives businesses on-demand access to computing resources via a new online portal called Synaptic Compute as a Service. Online time windows can be purchased through credit card payment, and services can be used immediately.

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VMware is handling all the data center virtualization, and Sun will take care of networking software with Java and storage hardware with its StorageTek systems.

SCS will become commercially available in the United States by the end of the year; plans are for it to be launched globally in several months.

Because it is easy to set up and utilize, AT&T is aiming the new service at all sectors of the market—particularly at midrange and SMB businesses. The service can be used for backup and disaster recovery, central management of distributed network resources, and application hosting, among others.

The SCS is the third in a series of AT&T Synaptic offerings; the company already offers storage and Web hosting services.

The telecom will utilize its own virtual private network (VPN) for security.

When that international launch happens, AT&T then will offer global network resources and protect them by using additional embedded network-based security. This will include intrusion detection and specific methods to prevent of denial-of-service attacks, the company said.