21Vianet: Carrier-neutral Data Center Services

Chen Sheng, Founder & Chairman

Migration to cloud has become the quintessence of every organization’s IT strategy today. Large as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are becoming increasingly reluctant to invest in hardware assets, thus diverting a major chunk of their IT spending from traditional infrastructure to cloud-based solutions and services. But how do organizations move their legacy systems to cloud without impacting their existing business operations? Multi-cloud and hybrid environments can be the answer as they guarantee business continuity along with reducing system risks associated with cloud-based IT infrastructure. However, organizations often lack the expertise to optimally utilize various tools and applications required for cloud migration. Also, most businesses are keen on ensuring both the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their IT resources in adopting cloud computing. To comprehensively assist organizations across industries in their journey to the cloud, 21Vianet—a Microsoft partner—offers data center colocation, carrier-neutral cloud, and hybrid IT services.

21Vianet is a globally influential provider of cyberspace infrastructure and third-party carrier-neutral data center services, which collaborates with Microsoft to land and operate Azure, Office 365, and other public clouds in China. Founded in 1996, the company formed a partnership with Microsoft in 2012 and set up a dedicated entity—Blue Cloud—to operate Microsoft cloud services across China in compliance with the government’s cloud-related rules and regulations. The 21Vianet Blue Cloud combines Microsoft’s global best practice and 21Vianet’s local understanding to meet local customer demands and provide them with services tailored to solve their specific issues.

The company’s Cloud Landing in China (CLIC) service, launched in 2015 to target landing global independent software vendor (ISV) applications, provides enterprises with a secure, end-to-end private connection to an international cloud of their choice.

21Vianet’s data centers assure high levels of security, operational reliability, and network availability, thus enabling organizations to pursue their cloud strategies more effectively along with unlocking new business opportunities. Until now, the company has launched three data center clusters across China, and interconnections of high reliability have been thoroughly built into these clusters using SDN technology. “We have over 20 years of experience in data center construction, operation, and maintenance, which is supported by our 50 data centers across 30 cities across China. Networking and data center operations form an intrinsic part of our DNA,” remarks Chen Sheng, founder and chairman of 21Vianet. By incorporating IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS related services into its core business, the company has transitioned into a full-stack service provider today.

With a complete range of colocation, network, and cloud services that can be customized to meet organizations’ unique needs, 21Vianet precisely understands its clients’ IT infrastructure and their requirements for growth, scalability, and evolution. These clients include both high-end enterprises that seek data center customization as well as long-tail organizations in search of hybrid cloud solutions. 21Vianet’s project with a client that runs 1500 virtual machines in the public cloud and aims to raise the number to 5000 in the near future serves as an impactful example of the company’s efficacy. 21Vianet devised a strategy to store the client’s scalable computing resources such as sales promotion data in the public cloud, whereas the remaining essential data in a data center or private cloud using a cross-connect. By combining colocation with cloud services, the company helped its client save considerable development time as well as eliminate costs related to deploying applications.

21Vianets also offers an add-on service that enables clients to monitor their own cloud infrastructure, and now aims to expand its data center services into several major metropolitan areas in China. Owing to an increasing demand for hybrid cloud solutions, the company will soon introduce integrated hybrid cloud management services for improved business efficiency and IT flexibility. “Having recently signed contracts with MBCloud, Sinodata, and many other high-end clients, we believe that the synergy between 21Vianet, Microsoft, and ISV partners will promote the cloud industry to grow into new areas,” concludes Sheng.

21Vianet News

21Vianet Group, Inc. Expands Its Cloud Business

BEIJING, July 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 21Vianet Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:VNET) (“21Vianet” or the “Company”), a leading carrier- and cloud-neutral Internet data center services provider in China today has announced, that on 16 July 2018 at the Microsoft Inspire 2018 Worldwide Partner Conference its wholly-owned subsidiary Shanghai Blue Cloud Technology Co., Ltd. (“21V Blue Cloud”) has entered into distribution agreements (the “Agreements”) with four world-class cloud service providers including Unify Cloud, AvePoint, Agile Point and Fadada.com (collectively, the “Partners”) who have officially authorized 21V Blue Cloud as a distributor of their products and services in mainland China.

According to the Agreements, 21V Blue Cloud will be responsible for the sales and marketing of the Partners’ cloud solutions, as well as all related implementation and maintenance services. Through these collaborations, 21V Blue Cloud will once again demonstrate its expertise and capabilities in the localization of high quality cloud solutions in China, especially with its landmark collaboration with Microsoft.

Key Facts:

• Over the past four years, 21V Blue Cloud has established a sustainable and trusted model for global public cloud operation. The partnership between 21V Blue Cloud and Microsoft has continued to attract cloud service providers worldwide by showcasing the effectiveness of 21V Blue Cloud’s turn-key solutions in helping foreign cloud service providers enter into the Chinese market.

• 21V Blue Cloud has extensive experience in providing its turn-key solutions to internet service providers. In addition, 21V Blue Cloud’s Cloud Landing in China (CLIC) strategy has a strong track record in helping service providers successfully localize their services in the Chinese market. 21V Blue Cloud’s existing partners include BitTitan MigrationWiz, GigaTrust Intelligent Rights Management, and Bespin Intelligent Cloud Management among others.

• The cooperation with the Partners will allow 21V Blue Cloud to provide a more comprehensive range of cloud services, including a complete cloud ecosystem, to customers in China.

• As an industry pioneer, 21V Blue Cloud’s operations are in full compliance with international and domestic legislation, regulations and standards. 21V Blue Cloud is committed to leveraging its licenses and relevant experiences to help its partners navigate through the obstacles in the Chinese market.

21V Blue Cloud Service Offerings:

• Cloud operation and management services in China, for international cloud service providers in need of local deployment and implementation services;

• Localization of operation systems of customer management, contract management and financial management, as well as localized sales channels to expand the local distribution channels;

• Constant and comprehensive pre-sales and post-sales customer service systems for cloud service providers;

• Intelligence gathering and educational services for international service providers to gain an insight into the demands, characteristics, and other elements that are necessary for successful operations and expansions in the Chinese market.

Mr. Alvin Wang, Chief Executive Officer and President of 21Vianet, stated, “We are delighted with the development of our cloud computing business, which is an integral part of our long-term growth strategy. By collaborating with Microsoft, we have established 21V Blue Cloud as the leading operator of international cloud services in China, able to provide customers with optimal service quality and reliability. Looking ahead, we remain committed to bringing more world-class cloud services to Chinese customers. We are confident that our strong localization capabilities as well as our experience and expertise in cloud operations will make us the preferred operator for domestic and international cloud solution services”.

Mr. Wenda “Wing” Ke, President of 21V Blue Cloud, stated, “With the rapid expansion of the cloud computing market in China, we aim to establish a mature and robust industry ecosystem by utilizing our localization and solution expertise to facilitate and accelerate mutually-beneficial cooperation with cloud solutions service providers. We are pleased to see an increasing number of enterprise users who now have access to stronger and more efficient support and are able to advance their business innovations through our products and services. Going forward, by building upon our competitive advantages and forging close partnerships with more world-class cloud service providers, we will remain committed to making localization easier for all the industry-leading cloud products and ensuring that all the solutions are easily-accessible and safe for users in China.”

Mr. Alain Crozier, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Chairman and CEO of Greater China Region, stated, "Since Microsoft Azure and Office 365 were launched in China four years ago under 21Vianet’s operation, they have performed beyond our expectations and achieved rapid growth. Our close cooperation with 21V Blue Cloud have provided the global market with an archetype for how international cloud services should be successfully commercialized in China. Currently in China, Azure serves more than 110,000 corporate customers and is favored by more than 1,400 partners, while Office365 currently has more than 1.5 million paying enterprise users. The two Azure data center areas, which we utilized for commercial use in Beijing and Shanghai recently, will offer better support to domestic and international customers with cloud business deployment and innovation projects in the Chinese market. With an open and welcoming business environment, China is the ideal market for Microsoft Azure intelligent cloud to scale quickly and efficiently. Moving forward, we will continue to work closely with 21V Blue Cloud to build the best development platform for cloud partners. Additionally, this cooperation will expand the Chinese cloud computing market with diversified cloud innovations that will drive digital transformations in various industries.”