Cloud provider, Elastichosts, is continuing its global expansion by opening four new datacentres around the world including one in Sydney.
In addition to new installations in Amsterdam and Silicon Valley, Elastichosts is strengthening its Asia-Pacific presence with the opening of a datacentre in Hong Kong, as well.
This is the first time Elastichosts has opened a datacentre in Australia, with CEO Richard Davies, characterising the region as an “obvious choice” for the Cloud provider.
“It is developed, has a strong business sector, a mature IT infrastructure, as well as the fact that we share the same language, so we see great opportunities here,” he said.
The buoyancy of the Australian market also made it an attractive choice for Elastichosts.
“As businesses expand, they need scalable solutions that can support this which is creating a growing appetite for Cloud based services,” Davies said.
Beyond the buoyancy of the Australian market, Davies said there was no other no specific reason for entering the local market, apart from the fact that Elastichosts is growing and the company was keen to reach out to new customers.
“We have a global marketing presence, which means we do get inquiries from time to time from Asia and Australia,” he said.
“Up until now these customers would have to be served out of our datacentres in the US or UK, which creates latency issues and reduced network speeds.”
The addition of the Sydney and Hong Kong datacentre is expected to provide Elastichosts with coverage across Asia Pacific, so any existing or future clients can look forward to better service and global support.
Channel play
The launch of the Sydney datacentre is also expected to provide resellers with certain opportunities, as Elastichosts runs a White Label reseller program.
The program is designed to let partners start selling flexible, pay-as-you-go Cloud solutions under their own brand within one day.
“Hosting resellers, system integrators, VARs and MSPs can rebrand the ElasticHosts Cloud portfolio and immediately offer Cloud hosting to their customers, without needing to invest capex, development or operational time,” Davies said.
Once launched, resellers receive 30 per cent of monthly Infrastructure-as-a-Service fees.
“They will also be able to provide a range of value added services to their customers,” Davies said.
“So we feel this will be a popular solution for channel players in the region.”
The heart of the Cloud issue for the channel has been customer retention, and Davies said there are benefits in branding one’s own Cloud services with ElasticHosts' technology.
With the changes taking place in a market where resellers, MSPs and service providers have spent years cultivating relationships with clients and building trust, Davies said the channel needs to “offer more to get them to stay.”
“By branding its own Cloud service a reseller is able to create its own distinct brand, and carve a name for itself in the market, rather than just flying someone else's flag,” he said.
This means they can maintain that trust that has been built over the years and the customer will have more trust in their branded solution.
“Through creating branded Cloud services, the channel can not only keep hold of customers, but also pick up a better sales commission than they would for a simple referral,” Davies said.
The four new datacentres join Elastichosts' existing locations in London Maidenhead, London Portsmouth, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Toronto.
Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.