On-demand hosting provider Layered Technologies has developed a new virtual private data center (VPDC) platform. Layered Tech says its VPDC is a hybrid cloud computing infrastructure that lets customers choose the virtualization platform that best suits their needs. Virtualization offerings in VPDC include 3Tera's AppLogic, VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V. The customer API is proprietary but based on industry standard protocols (SOAP and XML-RPC) and gives developers access to over 100 applications. Layered Tech first introduced a VPDC product based on AppLogic back in 2007.
“We are excited to evolve the VPDC to its next phase, forming a broad-based platform of services and features that were previously unavailable in such a tightly integrated offering," said Layered Tech COO and CIO Terrance Bush. "Our leading virtualization expertise is what attracts businesses to Layered Tech, and we’re excited to offer a robust new platform that, from a cloud perspective, stands apart by bundling new levels of security, storage, services, flexibility and accessibility."
To complement the VPDC platform, Layered Tech offers tiered managed services via DEFCON service bundles. Layered Tech CEO Jack Finlayson commented that “several Layered Tech customers are already successfully using early versions of our new VPDC platform, and as we move closer to general availability, we expect to announce additional features that will create even more value for enterprises looking to expand their off-premise, private cloud resources.”
Layered Tech founder and President Todd Abrams recently wrote an article for Enterprise Systems on cloud computing in 2010. Highlighting the Gartner estimate that cloud computing will be a $150 billion industry by 2013, Abrams predicted that the need for operational and financial improvement will fuel the first meaningful stage in cloud computing in 2010. The shift to the cloud could eliminate the need for a "forklift upgrade," allowing the hosting providers to perform managed cloud services in a turnkey fashion, with a portion of the IT infrastructure stay in the physical, dedicated server world with the remainder migrated into the cloud.
