Internet Solutions (IS), a pan-African telecoms service provider, has launched CloudConnect, establishing the gold standard of versatile, secure connectivity to major international cloud services. The new service provides MPLS VPN connectivity to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Dimension Data Cloud, via new direct interconnections in London and Frankfurt.

CloudConnect gives businesses the ability to connect to the international cloud-computing solution that best responds to their business, via a single user-friendly portal with market-leading standards of security, privacy and redundancy. It was created particularly in response to the needs of data- and computation-intensive sectors such as retail, education, banking and financial services.

It empowers companies with access to better connectivity than before, without forcing them to choose between the effectiveness of hybrid systems versus the importance of security, or capacity and speed. CloudConnect is a service which assumes the need for versatility in cloud computing as in business, and offers superior connectivity with higher operational standards and lower risks than is possible via public internet-accessed services.

“Decisions about how a business’s technology environment is structured are influenced more and more by strategic, rather than operational, concerns,” says Kovelin Naidoo, Chief Information Officer of IS. “Regardless of whether the aim is to make a company more agile, or to limit some external or legislative risk, we are committed to providing our clients with choices, underpinned by as standard of efficiency, security and stability that only a service like CloudConnect can provide. There is no point in having the most sophisticated cloud solution in your organisation if users struggle to connect to it!”

CloudConnect connects clients to major Cloud Computing providers via IS’s virtual private network solution, bypassing the public internet from point to point. This means that IS can shape the connection to optimise efficiency at all times.

The solution uses both WACS and SEACOM connections to Europe, offering 24/7 redundancy and 99.98% guaranteed uptime, ensuring business continuity at all times. It also provides a choice of service speeds for as little as one quarter of conventional international bandwidth connectivity costs.

“CloudConnect offers access to multiple global cloud service providers via a virtual private network,

offering clients minimised risk, lower variable costs and reduced capital expenses, and allowing them to realise full benefit from their decision to move into the cloud,” says Eldon Lalla, Head of Product Management at Internet Solutions.

“IS will work with clients to understand their business needs and how we can support their business strategy, determining whether an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS), or a combination of these, will provide the best possible connectivity solution for them,” Lalla adds. “Using CloudConnect means that our clients have the gold standard of infrastructure supporting their cloud computing needs, and the versatility to create new hybrid options that address their particular business needs. By giving our clients the certainty that they need in their technology environment, we empower them to focus on the business of running their businesses. We’ll handle the rest."