Category Archives: NTT Com

NTT Com to provide private links to AWS, Azure

NTT Com is getting into the cloud interconnection service game

NTT Com is getting into the cloud interconnection service game

NTT Com has launched a multi-cloud connect service that will provide direct private links to leading public cloud providers’ infrastructure including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

The Multi-Cloud Connect service, which is being pitched as an optional feature for NTT Com’s Arcstar Universal One, lets users access various public cloud services through its MPLS network.

The company, which already offers a range of cloud services under its own brand and through a range of subsidiaries, said that while a growing number of its customers are shifting workloads onto public cloud platforms variable network performance and cybersecurity are still inhibiting widespread adoption.

The Multi-Cloud Connect service will initially offer direct access to Microsoft Azure and AWS cloud platforms in Tokyo this week, followed by London later this year.

NTT Com is among a growing number of datacentre providers leveraging their network and real-estate for cloud interconnection services.

Earlier this Summer Equinix, an NTT Com competitor, added Alibaba to its cloud interconnection service, Cloud Exchange, which already boasts close to 100 cloud providers. In July BT redoubled its Cloud of Clouds initiative, which is already being deployed from about 20 facilities globally and a further 30 third-party datacentres operated by other cloud providers. And last year, Digital Realty announced a deal with Zayo enabling the datacentre operator offer low-latency connections to over 20 cloud platforms.

NTT Com sets up IoT practice

NTT Com is setting up an IoT practice

NTT Com is setting up an IoT practice

NTT Com is setting up an office to target the development, sales and marketing of Internet of Things solutions.

The ICT-focused subsidiary of NTT Group said it will leverage its expertise in cloud computing, software development and telecoms to design and sell IoT solutions to clients, solutions that make use of the company’s 130 cloud datacentres and global network.

It plans to offer a one-stop application platform that can store, analyse and visualise data generated from IoT sensors.

The company is already working with a number of companies in Japan and Indonesia on a series of IoT trials.

In August this year for instance it announced a partnership with Kanazawa Nishi Hospital in Japan to test sensors deployed in electric appliances to help monitor elderly people living alone. In April it announced a partnership with TOCHU Corporation to test a smart streetlighting network at a complex in Indonesia to help optimise power consumption.

NTT Com buys Cyber CSF to boost Indonesian datacentre presence

NTT Com's newest datacentre in Jakarta, Indonesia

NTT Com’s newest datacentre in Jakarta, Indonesia

NTT Communications announced it has reached an agreement to acquire PT. Cyber CSF, one of Indonesia’s largest datacentre and cloud service providers, for an undisclosed sum.

Headquartered in Jakarta, Cyber CSF was founded in 2012 and with 2,800 racks in 7,700 square metres claims to be the country’s largest datacentre operator. NTT Com plans to rename Cyber CSF as NTT Indonesia Nexcenter.

The company’s carrier-neutral facility links up to 32 domestic and overseas fibre operators and will also help NTT Com add another point of presence for its Arcstar VPN service, which it plans to do in October this year.

NTT said it wants to position itself in front of what the company sees as an impending boom in the regional cloud market.

Indonesia is one of the world’s largest countries and according to IDC the Indonesian ICT market is expected to average about 10 per cent annual growth through 2017, exceeding growth rates in most other Southeast Asian countries.

Additionally, the company expects new legislation in the region to influence more financial services companies to outsource their datacentre operations and move more of their systems to the cloud.

The company has in recent months looked to bolster its datacentre presence globally. In April this year the company’s American subsidiary completed a merger with Verio (after acquiring it 15 years ago), and in March bought a majority stake in one of Germany’s largest datacentre operators, e-shelter.

Box to tap NTT’s VPN in Japan

Box is teaming up with NTT Com to launch Box over VPN

Box is teaming up with NTT Com to launch Box over VPN

Box and NTT Com have announced a partnership that will see the cloud storage incumbent offer access to its services through NTT’s VPN service. The companies said the move will improve confidence in cloud services among Japanese enterprises and expand the reach of both companies in the local IT services market.

Box also said the ‘Box over VPN’ scheme would improve network security for users and broaden the range of enterprise customers it caters to in the region, in particular enabling it to tap into government and financial services institutions.

“We’re thrilled to partner with NTT Com to help create transformative software for Japanese businesses in every industry,” said Box chief executive and founder Aaron Levie.

“This partnership will help more organizations to benefit from entirely new ways of working by elevating technology to enable secure collaboration and content management across geographical boundaries, while still meeting demands for robust control.”

Hidemune Sugawara, head of application & contents service, senior vice president of NTT Com, said: “By delivering added value based on NTT Com’s expertise in network security, we look forward to providing Box over VPN to a wide range of Japanese businesses. The partnership will enable Box to be combined with ID Federation1 and Salesforce over VPN2, both of which are provided by NTT Com, which will help to expand our file-collaboration businesses targeting large enterprises.”

Japan has one of the most mature cloud services markets in the Asia Pacific region, which as a whole is expected to generate about $7.4bn in 2015 according to Gartner.

NTT Com subsidiary RagingWire launches California datacentre

RagingWire claims the new facility gives it the largest datacentre in California

RagingWire claims the new facility makes it the owner of the largest datacentre in California

RagingWire Data Centers, a subsidiary of Japanese telecoms giant NTT Com has cut the ribbon on its latest datacentre, known as California Sacramento 3 or CA3.

RagingWire is among a number of incumbents (Alibaba, Time Warner, Equinix) to bolster their cloud presence in the state as of late.

The 180,000 square foot facility packs 14 megawatts of power and 70,000 square feet of server space. It is located and fully integrated with the company’s 500,000 square foot datacentre campus in Sacramento, which includes two other datacentres (CA1 and CA2); the company said when combined the campus creates the largest datacentre in the state of California (680,000 square feet).

“Today is a big day for RagingWire, our customers, and our partners,” said George Macricostas, founder, chairman, and chief executive of RagingWire Data Centers. “The CA3 data center is the next step in RagingWire’s U.S. expansion and a new component for the global data center portfolio of NTT Communications. CA3 is truly a world-class datcentre.”

The move marks another big expansion for NTT Com, which together with its subsidiaries operates over 130 datacentres globally. The company said the latest facility is aimed at companies operating in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

“RagingWire has been a strategic addition to the NTT Communications family of companies. We look forward to working with you to deliver information and communications technology solutions worldwidem,” said Akira Arima, chief executive of NTT Communications.

Close to 40% of IT DMs find cloud is falling short once implemented, survey finds

Enterprises are struggling to manage the transition to cloud services, an NTT report suggests

Enterprises are struggling to manage the transition to cloud services, an NTT report suggests

Close to four in ten IT decision makers believe the cloud as it is implemented in their organisation is falling short of its potential, nearly the same proportion (41 percent) that say they find managing cloud vendors confusing, according to a recently published report.

A recently published NTT survey of over 1,600 IT decision makers in Europe and the US sheds some light on the challenges enterprises are facing in adopting cloud services.

While nearly half believe cloud as implemented in their organisations is falling short, many are finding that a drive towards cloud services internally is displacing investment in other key areas of IT – and struggling to manage this bi-modal IT framework.

About 17 per cent of respondents agreed they spend more time developing capabilities for applications hosted in the cloud than they do for those in their datacentres, but many more said they were spending significantly more time maintaining the current performance of both cloud (44 per cent) and corporate datacentre (55 per cent) applications.

Still, about 41 per cent of respondents said just migrating their critical apps to the cloud too challenging to warrant the move.

“Our study shows the reality of cloud in 2015 is potentially as complex as the world it was supposed to replace. ICT decision-makers harbor significant frustrations over cloud, and there are no clear answers over which kinds of applications belong where,” said Len Padilla, vice president of product strategy at NTT Com. “There needs to be a far smoother migration path from the datacentre to the cloud. A different kind of planning approach is required for companies to achieve the large-scale digital transformations business executives are demanding.”

“ICT decision-makers see the cloud as a compelling enabling technology for digital transformation – there’s no better way to take a new app from the sandbox to global production quickly.  However, our study suggests focusing on ambitious plans is not the best approach.  Focusing on continuous improvement and incremental steps is a far more effective strategy,” he explained.

While close to 90 per cent of respondents said they plan to move some applications over to the cloud at some point, the results of the report still raise questions about how enterprises can cope with some of the challenges of managing the transition. For a full copy of the report click here.

NTT America and Verio to merge, keeps NTT America brand

The Verio brand will be no more under the proposed merger with NTT America

The Verio brand will be no more under the proposed merger with NTT America

NTT America and American cloud service provider Verio have announced a merger that will see the Verio brand absorbed into NTT America.

“Upon the merger, NTT America, the surviving company, will be taking over the whole existing services of Verio in the Cloud and Web hosting business domain,” the company said in prepared remarks.

“The intent of the merger is to maximize the competitiveness of NTT Com group’s cloud services within the rapid-changing business environment. NTT America and Verio will further improve the operational efficiency with the aim to strengthen cloud services for its enterprise customers.”

The move comes nearly fifteen years after NTT Com acquired Verio in an all-cash $5.5bn deal, a move aimed at leveraging expansion to the US in its dealings with large multinationals, which at the time were predominately in Asia.

At the time the acquisition was the subject of an investigation by the US government on national security grounds, but months after the initial deal was announced the Clinton-led government declined to intervene.

Over the past few years NTT Com has moved aggressively to bolster its cloud presence globally, with many of the NTT brands and sub-brands (DiData, Gyron, and Digital Port Asia) on hiring sprees. It also recently acquired e-shelter, a German hosting and cloud services provider.