This Week in Cloud: Storage Key for Enterprise and Consumers
The past week in the cloud featured a lot of storage updates, both in the enterprise and consumer segments. The first highlight is a partnership between tech veteran IBM and storage startup Nirvanix to help expand IBM SmartCloud Enterprise storage services. SiliconANGLE founder John Furrier explained how the deal is a win-win for the two companies: IBM’s platform will enable customers to upload files only once from any geographical location with no size limitation thus creating a far more scalable offering, while Nirvanix is gaining a big partner and equally significant source of revenue.
Google also had a storage update this week. Shortly after the IBM and Nirvanix partnership was announced, the internet giant unveiled Google Cloud Storage, an offering originally designed for developers that has been repurposed. It includes OAuth 2.0 authentication and offers rates ranging from $0.105 to $0.13 per TB used. Google also added a new SLA to its App Engine to make it more attractive for corporate customers, and rolled out a new API out of development.
Consumer cloud
On the consumer end storage also made a big impact, specifically the launch of iOS 5 and iCloud. The personal cloud storage and sharing service syncs files across all iOS devices, and 5GB worth of memory is available for free to device holders. Users can extend that and add an additional 10, 20 or 50 more GB for an annual fee.
In addition to new offerings, there were a couple of high-profile funding rounds this week. Enterprise mobile device management platform provider Zenprise announced it has raised $30 million from Greylock Partners and existing investors Rembrandt Venture Partners, Ignition Partners and Shasta Ventures. Box.net in turn announced it closed its biggest round to date: the company raised $81 million from Salesforce.com, SAP Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates among others.
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