EarthLink Expanding Cloud Services with Virtustream

EarthLink (NASDAQ: ELNK), an IT services and communications provider that operates data centers across the United States, is building out its cloud services capabilities by adding Virtustream xStream enterprise cloud software to its existing data centers. The company also plans to roll out the technology to new cloud data centers in Dallas, Chicago, San Jose and Miami it plans to bring online during the first half of this year.

As more service providers continue to dive into cloud computing and launch cloud services, it’s critical they select the right technologies and services to serve their customers. In EarthLink’s case, the company selected Virtustream xStream after evaluating “numerous cloud provisioning and management software products.”

According to EarthLink, xStream was chosen because of Virtustream’s cloud expertise and the software’s “unique capabilities.” By deploying xStream, EarthLink hopes to provide SMB customers with an expanded set of cloud services for mission-critical applications while focusing on security, pricing and application performance SLAs. In essence, these are meant to be enterprise-class services with all the bells, whistles and service and performance guarantees larger businesses are used to—but with an SMB price tag.

“We can bring additional economies of both scale and skills to our small and mid-sized clients, a privilege once afforded by large enterprises only. Our broader set of managed cloud services will continue to reduce customer need for dedicated IT hardware, software and/or even personnel to support new applications,” said Mike Toplisek, executive vice president of Sales and Marketing for EarthLink, in a prepared statement.

EarthLink currently operates four data centers in the United States. It is currently deploying Virtustream xStream in its existing Rochester, N.Y., data center, and its plan is to roll out the technology to its other existing data centers, and then the four new data centers as they come online.

Based on the expansion of its data centers and the deployment of the xStream software, it looks as though EarthLink is really stepping up its cloud game.