AT&T to Deliver Cloud-Based ‘Storage as a Service’ to Enterprises

AT&T, Inc. today announced AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service, a storage-on-demand offer that provides enterprise customers with control over the storage, distribution and retrieval of their data from any location, anytime, using any Web-enabled device.

AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service provides a business-class storage service that lets customers use the AT&T network cloud to store, distribute and retrieve data as needed to meet their business or legal requirements. Customers will be able to specify their storage criteria – called user policies – through a Web-based customer portal. The service automatically scales storage capacity up or down as needed, and users pay only for the amount they use.

AT&T has selected EMC Corporation, a world leader in information infrastructure solutions, as the technology provider for the underlying AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service platform. The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly develop and market the service.

AT&T is introducing the service to customers on a controlled basis this month, with plans to make the service generally available in the third quarter. The service is deployed in AT&T Internet data centers (IDCs) in the U.S. and will be accessible by customers connecting to the Web anywhere. In time, AT&T plans to add the service to select global IDCs to meet customer demand internationally.

"The demand for data storage continues to grow at a staggering rate, driven by companies’ need for 24×7 access to business critical data," said Roman Pacewicz, senior vice president of strategy and application services, AT&T Business Solutions. "AT&T Synaptic Storage helps enterprises get a handle on these increasingly complex storage environments, while controlling costs and improving service levels."

Across the industry, businesses are struggling to find cost-effective approaches to manage large amounts of data generated by today’s high bandwidth applications such as Web content, streaming media, distributed file sharing and medical imaging. In many cases, businesses invest in costly equipment for more data storage capacity, or they may adopt cumbersome and redundant data retrieval procedures.

AT&T’s on-demand, network-based approach provides much needed assistance by eliminating the need for up-front capital investments for storage capacity while offering flexibility to meet changing business needs. AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service is especially helpful for businesses with fluctuating data storage requirements. The service also is a great fit for extended retention of data no longer needed for transactions, which often can be provided at a fraction of the cost of managing data over a dedicated storage area network. The data can be retrieved at any time, to any customer location, including a third-party data center, using a variety of devices such as laptops, smart phones or other Web-enabled handheld devices.

Using EMC Atmos technology, a policy-based information management platform, the AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service gives users the flexibility to store, distribute and retrieve data through the Internet or directly from the AT&T network cloud via a virtual private network or other transport service, enabling customers to create a ‘virtual private storage cloud’ protected by AT&T’s industry’s leading network-based security services.

"EMC is vigilant about delivering customers more choice, better control and increased efficiency in large-scale cloud storage environments," said Mike Feinberg, senior vice president, EMC Cloud Infrastructure Group. "The global scalability, policy-based service level management, and broad feature set of EMC Atmos combined with the AT&T network cloud delivers an industry-leading cloud based storage service for customers. We’re pleased to be working with AT&T to deliver customers a solution that delivers the choice, control flexibility – and cost efficiencies – of cloud."

"Cloud storage holds out the promise of enabling a new generation of storage services with flexible, on-demand capabilities that address both runaway costs and a diverse combination of changing business priorities and regulatory requirements," said Adam Couture, principal research analyst with Gartner. "The initial attraction has been staggering cost differential between traditional storage offerings and cloud storage. But as cloud storage matures providers will differentiate themselves in areas like security, data portability, ease of access and integration and quality of service."