Savvis users can buy as needed with service platform

Savvis Communications this week said it has teamed with several hardware vendors to build itself a service delivery platform that lets customers order and pay for storage, Web hosting and other services on an as-needed basis.

The company says services delivered via the new virtualized platform, based on equipment from Egenera, Inkra Networks and 3Par InServ, let customers save money by outsourcing instead of investing in their own equipment.

Savvis CEO Rob McCormick says the company offers a happy medium between what traditional carriers offer (pay a flat monthly fee for a set amount of storage or Web server space) and traditional outsourcers, such as Electronic Data Systems and IBM, which “like to take over a user’s entire network up to user desktops.”

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Savvis Communications this week said it has teamed with several hardware vendors to build itself a service delivery platform that lets customers order and pay for storage, Web hosting and other services on an as-needed basis.

The company says services delivered via the new virtualized platform, based on equipment from Egenera, Inkra Networks and 3Par InServ, let customers save money by outsourcing instead of investing in their own equipment.

Savvis CEO Rob McCormick says the company offers a happy medium between what traditional carriers offer (pay a flat monthly fee for a set amount of storage or Web server space) and traditional outsourcers, such as Electronic Data Systems and IBM, which “like to take over a user’s entire network up to user desktops.”

Savvis will let a Web-hosting customer add an application needed for just a couple of weeks. That customer then pays only for the space used for that period.

Savvis’ platform includes Egenera’s BladeFrame P system, which creates a pool of server resources that can be dynamically allocated and torn down as necessary. The system eliminates the need to dedicate server space for specific applications or customers.

Also being used is Inkra’s Virtual Service Switch to support a centralized network and security architecture. In addition, Savvis deployed 3Par InServ’s Utility Storage system.

The service provider previously standardized its network-based IP VPN service on Nortel’s Shasta 5000 BSN switch, which it had used since 2000.