Optus links Sydney, Singapore clouds

Optus has certified its Elevate infrastructure-as-a-service offering as a VMware vCloud Datacenter Service, joining parent Singtel and seven others around the world.

The accreditation was achieved “in recent weeks” and announced today by Optus’ general manager of cloud services, Liam Fraser, at VMware’s vForum in Sydney.

Since certified service providers were required to use standard VMware technologies, it was “technically possible” for customers to transfer their applications and data between the providers’ data centres, Fraser said.

In recent trials, Optus successfully transferred applications between its Sydney data centre and Singtel’s data centre in Singapore. But it had not yet committed to a commercial offering, he said.

“As Singtel is also a certified VMware vCloud Datacenter Service provider, this also presents the opportunity for Optus to provide regional cloud services across Asia Pacific as we move down the track,” Fraser said.

“It’s not a service that’s available either here or with Singtel,” he said. “But it’s something that we are absolutely looking at.”

Fraser said Optus was the first Australian cloud service provider to gain the VMware accreditation. Competitor Telstra is also working towards certifying its ‘Silver Lining’ cloud.

VMware required certified service providers to allow customers to quickly self-provision resources and move applications between the cloud service and their internal VMware environments.

Certified cloud providers could also opt into VMware’s Global Connect network, which presented the data centres of its members – including Singtel – as a single resource pool.

At the launch of Global Connect in Las Vegas last month, Fraser noted that Optus would likely follow Singtel into the alliance, which would allow it to target more international customers.

“It’s something that's working along in the background,” he said today, noting that the vCloud Datacentre Services accreditation was a prerequisite for Global Connect.

“The [Global Connect alliance] is something that’s continuing to be discussed with VMware but again, there’s no firm commitments around when that service is going to be available.”