M247 launches cloud platform

Managed service player M247 has cut the ribbon on its cloud infrastructure to ensure it can offer its customers a deeper level of support.

The firm has built the 247Cloud to react to the growing move by its customer base to embark on digital transformation projects and to help them with their increasing data growth and computing demands.

M247 is giving customers a menu to choose from, including private, hybrid and public cloud services. It has put the infrastructure together using technology from a range of household names, including Cisco, Nutanix, VMware, Cohesity and Zerto.

But the decision to build the platform and make the necessary investments has not been done on a whim. The managed services player has witnessed increasing growth for hosted services and quoted Forbes, which has estimated that by the end of this year, 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud.

Added to the explosion of data heading to the cloud, which is clearly driving growth, there are also customer expectations that they will have the option of working with a single supplier to cover all their needs. M247 commissioned YouGov to confirm that suspicion and found that just under half of the businesses surveyed (46%) wanted to have one main point of contact to manage and support their computing needs.

M247 has been developing plans to build its own cloud platform for a while and earlier this month it appointed Paul Sheard as customer solutions architect to add some muscle to its pre-sales team to support businesses through their digital transformations. Sheard has 15 years’ experience and holds all four VMware VCP6 qualifications and an Amazon Web Services (AWS)-certified solutions architect qualification.

The channel player has also invested in more points of presence (PoPs) to make sure it can support people internationally, launching in Dubai, Sydney and Dublin last year. There are plans to add more PoPs in Portugal, Hong Kong and Dallas this year. The business now has a presence in 24 countries and 28 cities across the globe. 

Kevin Paige, CTO at M247, said developing its own cloud platform would help the company stand out from the competition. “Not all clouds are created equally, and we are delighted to be able to offer our customers an unrivalled service, built to support their current and future needs,” he said.

“Our 247Cloud infrastructure offers a flexible and agile cloud operating model with the ability to scale at speed and be deployed in different ways. We have invested heavily in creating a future-proof, agile cloud model, harnessing the very best in business-focused solutions, technical support and software partnerships.

“We are one of few providers that can offer customers cloud-ready connectivity which enhances the end-to-end cloud services experience with no hidden costs and around-the-clock, integrated cloud and connectivity support from our dedicated teams.”