ASG helps DirectNetworks build SMB services

Finding ways of making the transition to the cloud as easy as possible for user businesses, especially if they are small, fast-moving and keen to focus on their core business rather than technology, is something of a Holy Grail for many service providers. It is not helped by their being many ways to skin that particular cat, as well as many options that individual businesses need to consider.

The option chosen by US solutions provider, DirectNetworks, is the CloudFactory end-to-end cloud management suitefrom ASG Software Solutions.

DirectNetworks is using it as the basis of a cloud-based workplace, called DirectCloud Webtop. which it is offering to its small to medium-sized client base.

The company made the CloudFactory decision following extensive  “ASG’s CloudFactory solution was not only able to address all of our pain points, but, most importantly, everything was completed within our budget and roll-out timeframe of just three months”

testing of a wide range of alternatives ranging from VMware View to Citrix Xen Desktop. In its opinion, only CloudFactory gave the company the kind of flexibility it needed for its SMB clients.

It provides an environment where its customers can transplant their IT operations to the cloud with minimal disruption and adjustment. It is already showing 20-30 percent cost savings and 30-50 percent efficiency gains. It is also able to satisfy DirectNetworks’ strict vendor-agnostic and software ownership requirements, easily integrating with the Citrix and Microsoft components of Webtop while also allowing the company to manage the solution entirely from within its own datacentres.

“ASG’s CloudFactory solution was not only able to address all of our pain points, but, most importantly, everything was completed within our budget and roll-out timeframe of just three months,” said Colin Mehlum, partner and business development of DirectNetworks. “We recognised that cloud computing was quickly becoming an essential element of any successful, modern IT strategy, so the development of Webtop was crucial to both our customers and our survival as a company. But, without CloudFactory, Webtop simply would never have been possible. ASG really treated us like a partner in helping us reach our goals, and its innovative cloud suite has been a crucial element of our company’s vision and success.”

Using CloudFactory helped DirectNetworks create a single workspace for users to access and provision all of their applications and services, while advanced service orchestration and automated infrastructure lifecycle management is conducted in the background within DirectNetworks’ datacentres. Now, DirectNetworks can provide its clients with all of the increased cost savings, mobility and productivity that are inherent with the cloud.

By including cloud-based storage, servers and virtual desktops, DirectNetworks can also help its clients future-proof their operations while increasing data accessibility and reducing costly hardware, software and in-house support.

“We are just as invested as DirectNetworks in helping them grow their business, so are pleased to see the significant role CloudFactory has played in the success of Webtop,” said Victor Paul Fiss, vice president cloud delivery, ASG Software Solutions. “DirectNetworks wants to shoulder its clients’ burden of trying to constantly adapt to increasing technology advancements. And, to know that CloudFactory played a role in that goal, and is helping advance companies’ computing infrastructure to the cloud, is an achievement in and of itself.”