Global Cloud Platform/S5 by Fujitsu Also Available From Western Japan

Fujitsu Limited announced that, as of July 12, it is providing its public cloud service, Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform/S5 (FGCP/S5) from Western Japan.

This is in addition to the services it already operates in five countries around the world as well as Eastern Japan.

By providing FGCP/S5 from Western Japan, customers using the service can have their data and systems distributed through both Eastern and Western Japan, making for a more disaster-tolerant ICT platform.

Along with providing FGCP/S5 from Western Japan, Fujitsu has also introduced a Backup Construction/Operation Support, in which customers can use backup software included in FGCP/S5 system templates, while Fujitsu personnel create and help operate backup environments. This will offer speed and flexibility to customers in setting up backup environments that can grow along with their businesses.

FGCP/S5 services in the Eastern and Western regions of Japan will be available on virtual servers with performance levels double and quadruple those of the best of today’s virtual servers. Big data processes that had previously required multiple virtual servers can now run on one.

To mark the launch of FGCP/S5 being provided from both Eastern and Western Japan, Fujitsu is offering discounts of as much as 40% through December on its FGCP/S5 service.

Cloud services, in which servers and other ICT infrastructures are made available on demand via the Internet, offer the advantages of scalability and lower operational costs. They have also attracted more interest recently as an approach to maintaining BC. In addition to the five countries around the world from which it is already offered, Fujitsu is now providing its FGCP/S5 service from Western Japan in response to customer demand.

Rapidly Building Redundant/Backup Environments
with Western Japan’s FGCP/S5
The addition of service from Western Japan opens up a number of new possibilities. Businesses that store their data on-premise can turn to cloud environment for backups as a disaster-preparedness measure. Businesses already using the Eastern Japan service can also use the Western Japan service for redundancy, or for distributed access to cover their Western Japan operations.

Backup Service Using FGCP/S5
Along with providing FGCP/S5 from Western Japan, Fujitsu is also launching Backup Construction/Operation Support. With this service, when a customer backups data to the Western Japan FGCP/S5 center or between the Western and Eastern Japan FGCP/S5 centers, Fujitsu’s staff will use backup software included in the FGCP/S5 system templates to perform either backups or incremental backups based on the source region’s settings. Staff members will also assist with setting up backup centers that suit the customer’s environment, as well as running daily backups.

Not only does this service enable customers to build backup systems suited to the size of their business, but also ensures the flexibility to scale up or down along with the customer’s needs.

In addition to expanding the service’s backup software, Fujitsu plans to roll out additional disaster-readiness services on top of FGCP/S5 by working in concert with a network-routing switching function provided by Akamai Technologies GK.

Customer Case Study: Water system management services provided at consistent standards nationwide (METAWATER Co., Ltd.)
The Eastern Japan FGCP/S5 is being used to provide the ICT infrastructure for a service offered to local governments for managing information associated with their water systems. In response to requests from cities in Western Japan, Fujitsu is studying an expansion of this service to its center in Western Japan.

In addition to the above customer, some 1,000 systems are currently in operation in fields such as manufacturing, distribution, finance, and education. Fujitsu is pleased to be able to support these customers with a higher level of disaster readiness.

Internal Service Platform Case Studies

• Platform for big data: Fujitsu is studying using the Eastern and Western Japan region centers together to provide mutual backups for its Data Utilization Platform Service, a big data service that will collect and compile massive volumes of sensing data for analysis and prediction in fields such as agriculture, medicine, and transportation.
• Platform for SaaS: CRMate, Fujitsu’s SaaS-based application for customer information and inquiry management, will be using the center in Western Japan as a redundant environment so that customers can use the service with greater peace of mind.

Service Launch Promotion
To mark the start of service at the center in Western Japan, FGCP/S5 virtual servers operating from both the West Japan and East Japan centers are available at discounts of up to 40% through December 2012 (offer available to first 100 companies requesting east/west FGCP/S5 service).

Expanded Services for FGCP/S5 East and West
In addition to the four types of virtual servers already available with FGCP/S5, Fujitsu will offer two new levels of virtual server, Double High and Quad High, with performance levels double and quadruple the fastest previously available. This will give businesses the flexibility to scale up their business software or handle big data processes as needed.

Expanded Services for FGCP/S5 East and West

FGCP/S5 future developments
In addition to launching FGCP/S5 in Western Japan and expanding the range of server specs available, Fujitsu will be introducing reliable Object Storage Services, which store data in units of objects (advance trials beginning in October 2012). This will permit flexibility and lower prices in massive data storage and customer backups.

FGCP/S5 Centers
Starting with its center in Eastern Japan, which maintains the highest levels of service in the country, Fujitsu operates secure FGCP/S5 centers with the same level of quality in six countries: the UK, the US, Australia, Germany, and Singapore. With use of cloud services on the rise, Fujitsu has added a center in Western Japan to bring the total number to seven.

Pricing

Promotional pricing available to new customers for East/West Japan FGCP/S5 services.

Sales Target
3,000 companies by end of fiscal 2013 (for East/West Japan FGCP/S5 combined).