Cisco has extended its cloud and data centre relationship with Microsoft to include a new technology platform designed to accelerate service delivery and streamline the journey to the Intercloud for cloud providers.
Cisco and Microsoft are launching the Cisco Cloud Architecture for the Microsoft Cloud Platform, an integrated solution that combines Windows Azure Pack and Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI) to help cloud providers rapidly deliver hybrid cloud services while drastically simplifying operations and reducing costs..
Additionally, 14 cloud providers today announced they plan to join Cisco's Intercloud partner ecosystem, bringing the number of Intercloud providers to more than 60 with a footprint of more than 350 data centers across 50 countries.
The integration between Cisco and Microsoft technologies will aim to enable cloud providers to realise 'unprecedented value'.
The combination of Windows Azure Pack and Cisco ACI allows partners to deliver services - from network services and disaster recovery, to big data, and enterprise application services - at DevOps speed, reducing total cost of ownership and accelerating time-to-revenue.
This collaboration will deliver pre-packaged policy management libraries that allow cloud providers to implement applications more quickly with consistent policy management. In addition, Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 is integrated with the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Manager to provide the operational simplicity and control that cloud providers need to manage their growing business.
Cisco and Microsoft plan to support their ecosystem partners with a full lifecycle go-to-market approach that delivers everything from service idea and demand generation to customer retention.
Nick Earle, senior vice president, Cloud and Managed Services, Cisco: ?said: "We want our service provider partners to move up-market with us and offer higher-end cloud services. By partnering with Microsoft we're able to deliver a tightly integrated, application centric cloud architecture. This new platform will help our partners accelerate the delivery of new and innovative hybrid cloud services for their customers."
Aziz Benmalek, general manager, Hosting Service Providers, Microsoft, said: "Cisco and Microsoft already have a strong relationship in the cloud and data center markets. We're expanding that collaboration with a solution that will allow our mutual partners to deliver services quickly and grow revenue faster with a cloud-enabled platform."