eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
The most impactful IT trend thus far in 2017 is a phenomenon called digital transformation, which is really a marketing term for faster digital transportation. Using simpler words, this is all about moving more and more data safely at faster and faster speeds.
It turns out that lots of enterprises need help with this, thanks to the proliferation of data that is pouring into their storage silos. So, to promote and enable all this movement, managed cloud services provider Rackspace on April 3 expanded its professional services menu to enable users to move workloads out of their data centers and onto the public and private cloud platforms of their choice.
This initiative, Global Solutions and Services (GSS), aims to provide users in all markets with specialized expertise and support for upgrading their IT operations. Through GSS, Rackspace architects and engineers can work with users to plan, assess, design, migrate, manage and optimize their journey to the cloud, helping to ensure they achieve maximum performance, agility and cost-efficiency.
Rackspace, though largely VMware-oriented, is being open-minded about providing these professional services. For the first time, the San Antonio-based company will provide services to any business, regardless of which cloud platform it chooses or whether it is an existing Rackspace customer.
Rackspace Works Closely with AWS, Azure, Google
Rackspace operates closely with three of the world’s four largest cloud infrastructure providers. The company has earned high-level partner certification from Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure and recently announced a strategic relationship with Google Cloud to become its first managed services support partner for Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Rackspace also offers specialized expertise and support for dedicated servers and for the three major private clouds, powered by VMware, Microsoft and OpenStack.
More than 70 percent of organizations with 10,000 or more employees are currently undertaking an IT transformation initiative, according to “Voice of the Enterprise: Cloud Transformation: Vendor Evaluations,” a study published in January 2017 by 451 Research. In addition, 70 percent of organizations are also using multi-cloud environments. Many of these businesses lack the in-house resources and skills required to complete this type of transformation, from the upfront planning and execution to the ongoing management of their new cloud solutions.
“Rackspace operates one of the largest VMware footprints in the world, and we employ thousands of specialized cloud experts across multiple platforms,” Rackspace Vice President of Global Solutions and Services Rachel Cassidy wrote in a blog pot. “Our goal is to relieve users of the complexity of moving to multiple clouds, allowing them to focus on their core business.”
Specific Rackspace GSS services include:
—Portfolio Solution Architects will serve as customers’ trusted advisors, helping them run each of their workloads where they will run best. Through Rackspace specialized expertise on all of the leading public and private clouds, as well as dedicated servers, architects can offer both a seasoned point of view and unbiased guidance on which solutions will serve customers’ unique needs.
—Specialist Solution Architects with deep expertise and experience on specific cloud technologies will work directly with users on each cloud platform that they choose.
—Professional Services/Partner Services delivered through cloud architects, consultants and engineers that will help users with planning, assessment, design, architecture, migration and optimization across the selected cloud solutions.
Rackspace uses strategic partners as needed to complement the company’s expertise and capacity, providing users with complete, end-to-end solutions.
Rackspace enhanced professional services will include expertise and support not only for multi-cloud infrastructure but also for security, compliance and governance, as well as for datastores and other applications. Rackspace services include load testing, DevOps project support and maintenance, security testing and project management as a service.
The GSS offering is now available globally. For more information, go here.