(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — In order to accommodate increased interest from hosting service providers experiencing substantial growth in the demand for cloud-based services, worldwide utility storage provider 3PAR (www.3par.com), has made a major expansion to its 3PAR Cloud-Agile Program, adding the “Business Partner” level to the program and welcoming new companies.
Originally launched in July of 2009, the 3PAR Cloud-Agile Program includes members that have built or are building agile and efficient cloud service delivery infrastructures using 3PAR InServ Storage Servers. According to its Tuesday announcement, 3PAR has welcomed technical consultancy and enterprise hosting services provider Carrenza Hosting (www.carrenza.com) and UK web hosting provider Ultraspeed (www.ultraspeed.co.uk) as business partners.
The 3PAR Cloud-Agile program also announced its first partners in Asia and South Africa: NS Solutions (www.ns-sol.co.jp), which operates a utility computing service called “absonne”; and UCS Solutions (www.ucs-solutions.co.za), a service provider for the retail vertical.
It has also announced five other new first partners at the “Global Partner” level: managed services provider Attenda (www.attenda.net), technology solutions firm CSC (www.csc.com), managed IT services company DataPipe (www.datapipe.com), IT infrastructure services provider Terremark (www.terremark.com), and enterprise communications provider Verizon Business (www.verizonbusiness.com).
IDC storage and data management services program manager Brad Nisbet said that the cloud storage services ecosystem is rapidly expanding. “Some storage and systems vendors have developed proprietary, private cloud channel offerings that directly compete with cloud service provider partners,” Nisbet said in a statement. “Other vendors, such as 3PAR, have made a strategic decision to focus solely on partnering with cloud service providers. The worldwide expansion of the 3PAR Cloud-Agile program allows a growing set of partners to target key market segments, such as small and medium-sized enterprise, without creating a potentially competitive environment.”
Cloud-Agile was created to formalize go-to-market programs with 3PAR’s cloud service provider partners, as well as, more generally, raise awareness and demand for the cost and agility benefits of cloud computing services, and encourage the development of a robust cloud computing ecosystem.
“Since launching 3PAR Cloud-Agile, we have received overwhelming interest in the program,” 3PAR president and chief executive officer David Scott said in a statement. “The goals of 3PAR Cloud-Agile have always been to promote our strategic go-to-market partnerships, drive the adoption of cloud computing and cloud-based services offered by leading service providers with infrastructures powered by 3PAR Utility Storage, and build a mutually beneficial cloud ecosystem. We believe that expanding the program not only increases its value but enhances our ability to drive to these goals.”
