SMEStorage Partners With WebHostingBuzz

SMEStorage and WebHostingBuzz announced that their
partnership had resulted in SMEStorage providing UK
and EU businesses with a SaaS file server that resides in the ‘cloud’, hosted
in a new data centre in Amsterdam
provided by WebHostingBuzz.

SMEStorage
CEO Ian Osborne stated: "Although we
are a UK business, when we
first launched the SMEStorage Open Cloud Platform for businesses, the majority
of small businesses embracing the Cloud File Server proposition were in the United States.
However in the last 12 months we’ve seen the United
Kingdom and Europe
rapidly catching up in embracing cloud technologies for business agility and
productivity. This has driven us to
partner with WebHostingBuzz to have our SaaS Cloud File Server technology
hosted and available within the EU."

One of the
first customers to exploit this new EU based cloud capability is Excelian, a growing technology company who provides consultancy and services for Murex, OpenLink, HPC and cloud
computing.

Zoe Taylor, Excelian Operations Director stated: "After an extensive review of the market offerings we chose SMEStorage
because it delivers both the business agility and the cost benefits we need. Our
primary considerations in choosing SMEStorage are regional / global remote
working and security. We also need a solution that allows us to integrate with
other information systems, such as SharePoint, while still being able to use
SaaS initially, converting to an onsite cloud appliance at a later date."

CEO Ian
Osborne continued: "Data protection
legislation differs greatly between the European Union and the United States.
Although Safe Harbour
frameworks exist, currently the safe harbour framework does not protect data
from the US
Patriot Act. We’ve had businesses asking us to ensure access to their data is
strictly within the EU boundaries."

The
SMEStorage Cloud File Server enables organisations and administrators to configure
the Cloud File Server to access public and private information stores that can
be viewed and managed in an aggregated fashion, from a ‘Cloud File System’.

It is
possible, for example, for an administrator to configure public folders, such
as HR, Marketing, Projects etc, to be stored on Amazon S3 while also enabling users to add their own Google Docs
Apps accounts. This could be complemented by adding access to existing onsite
files, such as those stored on a ReadyNAS appliance. User would see and manage
all these files in an aggregated view from any desktop or mobile device.

The Cloud
File Server Administrator can control user access, permissions, and
notifications while also turning on file event auditing which logs any user
access with GEO location information and can also set global encryption keys
for security.

CEO Ian
Osborne finished by saying: "We’re
pleased to have an EU presence and very excited about the direction our
business is going. We believe we are unique in the path we are taking and that
unlike other siloed vendors, who try to sell storage, we are truly trying to
help our customers make sense of, and manage, the disparate information sources
they have in their businesses."