Pertino Offers Cloud-Based Networks for Businesses, Individuals

The startup's solution, aimed at SMBs, enables users to create an enterprise-class network in minutes without the need for hardware.

Pertino is coming out of stealth mode with a cloud-based networking solution that enables businesses to create and deploy a wide-area network within minutes and through only a few clicks.

The two-year-old company on Feb . 12 launched a limited release of its namesake networking as a service (NaaS) technology, which leverages cloud computing, virtualization and software-defined networks (SDNs) to bring enterprise-class networking capabilities to small and midsized businesses (SMBs).

The technology enables anyone with an Internet connection, a Pertino subscription and an email address to quickly create a WAN, deploy it, add people to it and shut it down when it's no longer needed. The solution enables SMBs to address the demands in a rapidly changing business world that is dealing with such trends as a more mobile workforce, bring your own device (BYOD), cloud computing and globalization, according to founder and CEO Craig Elliot.

At the same time, it reduces the challenges of cost and complexity that traditional WANs present. Spinning up a network takes minutes, and businesses don't have to invest the up-front cost on the infrastructure needed to create a WAN. They can take advantage of the programmability automation of networking tasks found in SDNs, the ease of the cloud infrastructure—as there's no upfront costs, no expertise needed and no hardware to buy—and a management model inspired by social media.

Users can spin up a network at any location, and can shut it down with a single click.

"For the last decade, wide-area networking has been all about boxes and branches," Elliot said in a statement. "But a wave of change is washing over businesses today, and in its wake IT organizations are grappling with cloud, mobility, post-PC devices, and an emerging work force raised on always-on connectivity.

"We realized that the network outside the office is becoming as pervasive and critical as the one inside, so we developed Pertino—an entirely new way to build a network in the cloud that's disruptively simple, secure and available everywhere," he said.

Pertino officials had the company's NaaS solution in a beta program that was run within the Spiceworks IT Pro community, and have plans to build on it as the year rolls out. Currently, the technology can run on systems running Microsoft's Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012, and Apple's Mac OS X operating system.

Support for tablets and smartphones will come later in 2013, according to Pertino officials.

Users can start with a free Personal plan, which offers a personal cloud network that can support up to three members and three devices. There also is the Professional plan for $10 per month per member.

Pertino reportedly is leveraging a number of cloud service providers—including Amazon Web Services and Rackspace—to run its solution atop of, and is offering 256-bit encryption to safeguard users' data. In addition, users can access office files and perform remote desktop tasks from the NaaS solution, according to Pertino officials.