Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 12 | Page 56

COUNTRY FOCUS: BELGIUM “ WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT WE CAN SERVE THE CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS WITH EVERY TYPE OF CLOUD DELIVERY MODEL, AS WELL AS WITH A COMBINATION OF THESE DELIVERY MODELS. The challenge The solution Proximus is no stranger to VMware. The internal IT infrastructure consists of over 12,000 virtual servers. So, it should come as no surprise that it turned to VMware when it wanted to start its Infrastructure- as-a-Service (IaaS) offering. When it decided some years ago to offer enterprise cloud, it seemed only logical that Proximus should consider VMware as a principal supplier for the indispensable virtualisation technology. “When we started this enterprise cloud journey, there was no other vendor who could supply us with the same grade of reliable, performant and secure virtualisation,” said Fabrice Feyten, Product Line Manager Cloud solutions at Proximus. “We needed a partner who could provide us with a solution that allowed for a multi- tenant platform without compromising on performance or security. The only way you can succeed as a cloud provider is by reaching the benefits of scalability, flexibility and cost-effective computing while taking away the worries around security, performance and availability. A reliable virtualisation partner such as VMware was key to the success of this journey.” For the basic, so-called ‘naked’ IaaS offering branded as Proximus vContainer, the organisation uses approximately 2,000 virtual machines; for the managed IaaS offering, Proximus Belgium uses another 1,500-2,000 virtual machines. Additionally, Telindus Luxembourg uses another several thousand virtual machines for its local IaaS offerings. Additionally, the virtualisation solution would have to enable the hybrid cloud model, allowing the customer to experience the best of both worlds. That way, the customer can choose to combine their own private cloud with Proximus’ cloud infrastructure and even rely on Proximus as a broker for public cloud offerings such as Amazon or Azure. This would not be possible without an overarching virtualisation platform, which allows for easy integration of all these environments. Business results and benefits 56 INTELLIGENTCIO The IaaS offering started in late 2010-early 2011 and was mostly based on ESX, vCenter and vCloud Director. Starting from some isolated use cases, this offering grew month after month, both in the corporate and in the SMB customer base. The growth was generated from direct sales as well as from local smaller integrators using Proximus’ IaaS offering as a base for its own cloud solutions. In 2015, Proximus launched an ‘SMB in the Cloud’ solution: a one-stop shop solution consisting of IaaS with some value-adding components such as Office 365, security or Lync. Smaller customers can thus benefit from a worry-free environment for a fixed price per month. This offering has already been adopted by roughly 3,000 SMB users. Overall, this cloud IaaS solution, in its different forms, has known a healthy double- digit growth ever since its inception. “The enterprise-grade quality that was offered from the start has been enhanced even further throughout the years,” said Feyten. “It has become available for both larger and smaller organisations, both directly and through the partner channel.” Proximus has always strived to provide the best possible quality for an affordable price. When the cloud era started, this ambition had not changed at all – quite the contrary. “Customers and partners are relying on Proximus to provide enterprise- grade services and infrastructure. This is what we have developed the past five years as a cloud offering as well. We want to offer superior value and service www.intelligentcio.com