In a world where data is at the heart of every aspect of our lives, easy access to that data is vital. The cloud has presented a unique solution to many, but providing these services is not always easy. When customers turn to OVHcloud, they turn to a service that is designed for normal people to access. We take a closer look at how this open cloud service has reached for the sky in this issue of Corporate Vision.

The cloud opens the door for many to achieve their wildest ambitions. Like most new technologies, this has previously been limited to those who have the budget and resources to access it, but the approach taken by the team at OVHcloud has been to create an alternative. Their work is designed with the freedom to build and the local resources to solve the challenges of hosting valuable data.

In short order, the team at OVHcloud has become a global player, proudly earning the title of leading cloud provider in Europe. Operating over 400,000 servers within its own 32 data centres across 4 continents, the team have an incredible capacity that ensures its users are always able to access the services they require. This is due, in no small part, to the commitment to leveraging an integrated model that runs across the entire supply chain. OVHcloud has designed its own services, manages its data centres and orchestrates its fibre-optic network. This not only makes it unique within the industry but has enabled 1.6 million customers to access their services from 140 countries.

This impressive production chain is a clear result of the strong values which the team champions. Driven by a desire to build trust, to work together and to act in a way that is passionate, disruptive and responsible, they have achieved something that other providers have not. Their value-based management enables them to provide customers with secure cutting-edge solutions at a competitive market price. Many have seen the challenges involved in the cloud, but the team’s approach has enabled them to react faster and more quickly than the competition.

The team has built up a strong repertoire of customers that hail from a variety of different backgrounds and industries, with a host of different needs. Serving people from start-ups to small businesses, from resellers to large enterprises is not easy, but the service that is provided by OVHcloud lies at the heart of them all. Each customer is recognised as unique, with their own demands, but the same desire to manage their data and work with complete freedom. The digital world is currently fragmented, and the cloud offers a way forward that binds it together. By building a strong eco-system of companies and organisations who are committed to defending the same values of trust and collaboration around data confidentiality and reversibility, OVHcloud will be able to have an impact beyond corporate boundaries and within the world at large.

For businesses, OVHcloud offers some truly astonishing programs that enable them to receive an invaluable end-to-end experience. Each is designed to meet the needs of specific groups and can be tailored to create an even more successful journey. The Startup Program, for instance, has helped over 1800 companies around the world in the last six years, with 200 members being currently active. The team support their projects, enabling them to reveal their most disruptive aspects. The Partner Program is a network of managed service providers, systems integrators and resellers who advise and support their own customers by combining their expertise with OVHcloud infrastructure. This offers partners around the world a sustainable advantage and has proven incredibly successful.

Similarly, the Open Trusted Cloud Program is aimed at software vendors, as well as software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions providers. The aim is to build an ecosystem of PaaS and SaaS in cloud computing – hosted in the business’s open, reversible, scalable and reliable cloud infrastructure. It’s clear from these three programs that OVHcloud doesn’t just offer services to individual companies. It builds community that wasn’t previously there, for the benefit of customers and OVHcloud itself.

This approach has proven essential to many businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the team moved quickly to ensure that their clients were able to manoeuvre appropriately during this difficult time. The priority, naturally, was the healthcare crisis. Many businesses moved to offer remote working, collaboration, online learning and healthcare application/data solutions. With such high demand required, and so many working together, the team at OVHcloud decided to offer free infrastructure for six months during the crisis. This carried with it no commitment, so clients could get back on track and work out how best to proceed after the fact.

This ‘Open Solidarity’ initiative helped and supported traffic spikes for websites that fell within the business sectors of education, healthcare and unified communications. Websites and infrastructures receiving free services also benefitted from free maintenance and support during this very difficult time. If one thing has been learned from the last twelve months, it is the demand for digital services and the need for business continuity solutions. While companies are moving towards cloud solutions, current economic uncertainty means IT budgets reflect risk reduction. Investment in the correct IT infrastructure is more important than ever, with the capacity to address fluctuating demands from peak periods and seasonality a key component in adapting to this new landscape.

The future, therefore, looks like one that will see a shift towards a hybrid working model – a mix of office based and remote working. While this opens the door for more business for OVHcloud, it also presents new challenges. There are greater demands to maintain privacy of data and security that must be met alongside the shift for many companies towards a Multi-cloud solution. This involves companies meeting their new IT needs by working with a range of cloud service providers. Ensuring that data is safe across these multiple suppliers is a new and exciting challenge for businesses to face.

It’s clear that 2020 changed the way in which people work, and this is a change that will not revert. The digital transformation has been accelerated across public and private sector industries, enabling people to take advantage of increased agility and productivity as well as improved collaboration. When the team at OVHcloud look to the future, they look at the way in which sustainability, data privacy and security will shoot up the priority list for businesses, who’s needs they must place front and centre in any decisions that are made.

As the team marches into 2021, they look forward to working with new and exciting partners as part of the European GAIA-X initiative. This reflects an industry-wide commitment to data transparency and security, drawing on over 300 members from 18 countries. With new developments such as a trusted public cloud offering for data-sensitive businesses in partnership with T-Systems as well as collaborations with Google, IBM and Atos in the offing, it’s clear that OVHcloud is not just at the forefront of the industry, it is leading the way for companies around the world.

For further information, please visit www.ovhcloud.com