Internap Debuts OpenStack-Powered AgileCloud

Internap at this week's OpenStack Summit in Atlanta launched what it describes as its next-generation public cloud, one entirely built on the open-source platform.

Internap's AgileCloud is a high-performance cloud, offering developers the native OpenStack API and being made available through the OpenStack Marketplace. Customers can rent by the hour, Drew McBath, Internap's senior director of product and strategic marketing, told CRN.

Atlanta-based Internap also is heavily investing in training tools and programs to bolster the capabilities of its channel partners, just months after revamping its channel program, McBath said.

[Related: Internap Amplifies Cloud Play With Voxel Acquisition ]

’This is one of those products that should be very interesting to channel partners because it is an open-source, very scalable, high-performance public cloud product. And we support the channel resources that sell it,’ he said.

Bridgepointe Technologies was founded 12 years ago in San Mateo, Calif., as a telecom master agency and has been an Internap partner ever since. Brian Miller, Bridgepointe’s co-founder, told CRN the new OpenStack cloud platform will uniquely position Internap in the market and will help boost Bridgepointe’s business.

’Everybody’s trying to grab market share from AWS and Microsoft Azure. I think this positions Internap really well as providing the more complete offering,’ Miller told CRN.

Internap's new channel program now includes services and support that Bridgepointe's sales agents and engineers can rely on to tackle technical issues, address contractual and administrative functions, and offer post-sale customer service, Miller said.

’Internap had predominantly been a channel program where it was more integrated with the direct sales force on every single deal. Now we have more support on the channel-specific resources available to us,’ Miller told CRN.

’We can work directly with folks within Internap who are dedicated to the channel. It’s actually fantastic,’ he added.

AgileCloud is certified by the OpenStack Foundation and was developed specifically to capitalize on the advantages of the open-source protocol, McBath told CRN.

One benefit is that it's easier to move applications between OpenStack clouds than from those built on proprietary systems, McBath said. ’The APIs are the same, the code is very transparent and available for download,’ he said.

Bridgepointe’s Miller told CRN the new offering melds with Internap’s other data co-location and networking services to enable a complete solution for Bridgepointe customers who require complex, hybrid IT and telecom environments.

’It seems like Internap now is providing a solution where we can go to any customer and provide the solution that they need, whether a single service or a hybrid environment,’ Miller said.

And that’s just the point, according to McBath.

Internap’s cloud was engineered specifically to work alongside the company’s traditional co-location and managed hosting products. For instance, co-location customers ’can spin up a cloud server’ and it would show up in their existing customer portal, he said.

As part of its channel investments, Internap has added tools and programs to its portal and is encouraging partners, many of them traditional telecoms, to learn to sell cloud products that are new to them.

’Hopefully, those guys can be our allies,’ McBath said.

’Agents have an important role to play in getting people to the point where they can start managing services remotely and getting some of the obvious advantages out of cloud,’ he said.

PUBLISHED MAY 16, 2014