Verizon and IBM Together for Private Cloud-Based Data Protection

With businesses looking more closely than ever at the economics of cloud computing, Verizon, a unit of Verizon Communications, and IBM Corp. have expanded their relationship to deliver Managed  Data Vault – a new private cloud service that provides secure, quick and reliable daily backups, and fast recovery of enterprise information.  

Available from both companies, the new solution is designed to automatically transfer data from a client location to a specially designed off-site data center via Verizon’s secure high-speed private network. With Managed Data Vault, businesses can realize off-site data protection at on-site speeds while taking advantage of usage-based utility to meet data growth without limits.

Many companies today still transport their backup tapes by truck to an off-site location – a process that has proven to be a slow and unreliable approach to archiving – adding security concerns, time, complexity and cost to the data protection process.  

"Through this exclusive relationship with IBM we are meeting a void in the online data protection market," said Kerry Bailey, chief marketing officer for Verizon Business. "We know that enterprise clients struggle with how to efficiently back up and restore data securely while mitigating the inherent risks such as loss of data.  By working with IBM as part of our overall cloud strategy, we are bringing to market an innovative solution that will help our clients maintain the stability of their business."

Don DeMarco, IBM vice president of Business Continuity and Resiliency Services, said: "Managed Data Vault offers a broad array of enterprise data protection, not just for files, but for very large data stores and transactional data base content. Today, enterprises have different ways to address specific scenarios. Managed Data vault is a single, secure solution to help clients retrieve a file, restore a device, or recover from a serious outage emergency.  Working with Verizon, we are addressing the needs of enterprise users with large data footprints, whether it’s 15, 50, 150 terabytes or even more."

According to industry experts, the global backup and restore market will grow by about 4 percent annually and is currently sized at nearly $3 billion.

Managed Data Vault for Discriminating Companies
Verizon and IBM will leverage each other’s complementary capabilities to deliver the new solution. Verizon will provide its suite of leading global private data network solutions along with data center expertise, IT consulting services and application-aware capabilities, which give visibility into utilization and latency. IBM will supply backup infrastructure and management capabilities, supported by its extensive information protection expertise and more than 40 years experience in business continuity and resiliency.

"Partnerships are truly strategic when each party brings a different value proposition to the table," said Melanie Posey, research director at IDC. "The combination of Verizon’s secure networking expertise and data center capabilities and IBM’s long history of providing electronic data management and protection solutions yields a unique end-to-end backup and recovery solution that is integrated with an enterprise’s existing wide-area network environment and fully managed in the cloud."

Ideal for global enterprises with stringent security and performance requirements, Managed Data Vault is an excellent match for the financial, retail and health care services markets. The service is well-suited to a diverse mixture of applications, databases and operating system (OS) support services and comes complete with IT consulting services support to help organizations manage through this process.

This solution will initially be available to Verizon and IBM clients in the New York City metropolitan area.

Converged IP and IT Services Via a Cloud-Based Model
Verizon is leading the industry toward an ‘everything-as-a-service’ (EaaS) model where cloud-based converged solutions are securely delivered through managed and professional services over the company’s global IP network. Verizon is assembling the key components of that unique and powerful approach to serving enterprises, and its new agreement with IBM is one more step in that evolution. The EaaS platform – with Verizon’s global IP network and data centers as its foundation – will enable enterprises to do business better by getting what they need, when they need it, where they need it.