vGRID-Flex by theCloud delivers hourly based cloud computing

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
16 September 2014

vGRID-Flex by theCloud delivers hourly based cloud computing for NZ businesses

New Zealand cloud service provider, theCloud, today launched vGRID-Flex - New Zealand’s first ever service that allows businesses to consume virtual infrastructure services on an hourly basis.

Flexible cloud computing services have been available from overseas providers since approximately 2007. However, theCloud is the first company to offer such flexibility in New Zealand.

theCloud chief executive Bruce Trevarthen said, “Cloud computing is transforming the way New Zealand businesses operate. And the rollout of Ultrafast Fibre has had a significant impact on its uptake in recent years.

“As companies have come to realise the power of cloud computing, flexible consumption models for virtual servers have been in hot demand” said Trevarthen.

He said New Zealand companies have only been able to access hourly consumption of enterprise quality computing through international cloud service providers, which presents two key concerns.

“First of all overseas services are slower due to the distance between the user and the host. So, companies wanting to access cloud computing from off-shore can become quite frustrated with speed and latency issues” he explained.

“And a second concern is that once a business begins sending data over international borders their data is subject to other countries’ laws in relation to data transfer, use and privacy. For some companies, especially those in the medical field or government agencies, this limits them to being billed for a monthly cloud service – the only model on offer in New Zealand until now - because they’ve had to keep their data in the country.”

Trevarthen said some businesses need the flexibility to increase their virtual server capacity for a short period of time such as when business activity peaks. He says these situations are when a flexible consumption plan is ideal.

“For example, a business might sell their products online and know that their online purchasing system receives extremely heavy traffic at a certain time of day. A flexible consumption service allows them to increase their virtual server capacity for that specific block of time when performance is absolutely crucial” he said.

Trevarthen said being able to utilise cloud computing services in a flexible manner can also potentially increase the speed of innovation for many companies.

“Using an hourly service supports businesses in the process of developing and innovating in a test environment when they need a full set of services – CPU, RAM and DISK – for shorter periods of time, saving money by being charged only as it’s used.

“Similarly, some businesses might need to trial a different tier of DISK or more RAM, and the new hourly service allows them to do this more cost effectively without compromising scalability, security, or dependability” he said.

theCloud was developed from the ground up in 2008 as a fully-automated cloud services platform. Since 2010, theCloud has operated as theCloud Limited, an independent subsidiary of LayerX Limited, which has a strong focus on enterprise computing capabilities, performance and reliability.

For more information on vGRID-Flex, visit www.thecloud.net.nz/vgrid-flex.

-ENDS-

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