Datapipe Enhances Managed Cloud Offerings Around Amazon Web Services

Datapipe has enhanced its solutions around its Managed Cloud for Amazon Web Services (AWS), a move the managed service provider said will help enterprises get the full value of hybrid cloud environments.

Jersey City, N.J.-based Datapipe, CRN's 2013 Managed Service Company of the Year, revealed the enhancements in conjunction with the AWS Summit in New York City. It said it's bolstering its cloud offering with tools to protect customers expanding AWS adoption, Direct Connect options for hybrid cloud environments and internal assessment capabilities to ensure AWS environments are optimized.

While Datapipe has been focusing on security, hybrid connectivity and operational data for some time, Datapipe Senior Vice President of Marketing Craig Sowell said the latest additions solidify the company's solutions around managed services to help clients get the most out of AWS and hybrid cloud offerings.

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"That's where we think, frankly, we're a very differentiated managed service provider. We really staked our growth on multi-platform and solution-based approach," Sowell said.

The changes were entirely customer driven, Sowell said, but fit into the three core solutions areas for the MSP as well as the company's overall strategic focus on hybrid cloud. The company has evolved over the past 15 years from providing data center hosting to working strategically to build out a global network of managed IT services for clients on both traditional infrastructure, private, public and hybrid cloud environments.

The strategy has been working so far, Sowell said, especially as enterprise clients are more willing to take on public cloud options such as Amazon.

"Our strategy is definitely to, number one, really be a leader in this area of hybrid infrastructures and really embracing it. We're all in on Amazon because we're seeing an incredible amount of demand. As they go penetrate the enterprise, the need for managed service providers increase, or the ones with deep expertise increases," Sowell said.

The expansion fits into the strategy in three ways, Sowell said. First, it brings added opportunity for the hybrid cloud and building a solution that fits the unique requirements of enterprise customers. Second, Sowell said that Datapipe is looking to leverage operational data to better manage and model customers. Since Datapipe's acquisition of cloud optimization startup Newvem last year, Sowell said the company has been able to take the data generated within AWS during normal customer use and monitor it for cost, governance and performance optimization. Additionally, the MSP is focused on strategically expanding cloud security and helping customers better manage risk, he said.

"We've been staking claim and having that expertise, which is a great opportunity to grow," Sowell said. "As Amazon grows, we grow, and we're helping them get into the enterprise. It's a great position as an MSP to be in this multi-platform solutions approach."

PUBLISHED JULY 10, 2014