Capita IT Services has joined the ranks of service providers offering Microsoft applications in a private cloud environment. Its key differentiator promoted by the company, however, is that this is a service aimed specifically at UK businesses and organisations that have a degree of sensitivity about issues such as data sovereignty.
As part of Microsoft’s national cloud initiative to accelerate the offering of more secure cloud services to UK customers, applications such as Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint and Lync will be made available to customers via Capita Private Cloud, which was launched in September.
The company claims that customers will benefit from the knowledge that the applications are being used in a secure, private cloud environment, plus the reassurance of all data being stored in Capita’s UK datacentres.
Andy Parker, deputy chief executive at Capita, said: “Capita Private Cloud is already proving hugely popular with companies that want a blend of public and private cloud services without the complexity of managing multiple suppliers and contracts.
“We have successfully worked with Microsoft for many years, but this development takes our relationship to a new level. Clients who appreciate the security of private cloud will now have the option of choosing Microsoft applications, which were previously only available via the public cloud.”
Derrick McCourt, general manager for Microsoft, UK Public Sector, sees this as being a good move for local government, central government and health sectors, as well as highly regulated businesses such as banks, giving them access to a wide range of Microsoft cloud services all in one pay-as-you-go approach.
“We are pleased to be working closely with Capita on this national cloud offering, which over time will bring IL3 compliant cloud-based services to organisations requiring this capability,” he said.
Capita Private Cloud will be able to offer customers significant scalability and access to more than 2,000 pre-tested cloud applications via a self-service portal, allowing them to tailor, monitor and manage services.
