Ovum analyst David Molony gives his expert opinion.
“This is a significant development in VMB's services strategy, with a well-thought out choice of partner. It makes a big statement about VMB's intentions to be a significant player in the UK business telecoms market and will be a big challenge to BT and Cable & Wireless, both of which have already launched virtual data centre services like this.
“It's timely, because the cloud services business is getting some momentum. Ovum surveys with enterprises show that the proportion of enterprises trying out cloud-based network and IT services has increased from one-third to nearly half in the past year.
“VMB is able to offer a significant new service from a proven vendor with a high level of accreditation as well as significant hosting capacity. Savvis extends its service reach into the UK market across a high-spec MPLS network it would have taken years to build for itself.
“The partnership is a good fit because VMB does none of the global VPN services that Savvis specialises in particularly in financial markets. VMB's service will be aimed at SME and local government customers it already serves and which Savvis doesn't.
“The partnership has good buy-in from the US partner. Savvis chief technology officer Brian Doerr, was in London to support the launch, together with partner alliance and customer services managers. Savvis will provide a dedicated service desk in Slough for VMB, as well as professional services consultants to support VMB customers.”