Cisco Deepens OpenStack Commitment with Deutsche Telekom

The convergence of OpenStack-based cloud computing and the telecom industry is continuing apace. We've reported on Red Hat's partnership with Telefonica to drive Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and telecommunications technology into OpenStack. And we've covered Canonical and Juniper Networks' partnership to oversee co-development of a carrier-grade, OpenStack solution.

Now, Deutsche Telekom and Cisco are announcing a number of newly developed Intercloud-based services. However, these services won't be focused on telco datacenters, but rather on small- and medium-sized businesses and enterprise customers. 

Deutsche Telekom and Cisco are currently setting up the necessary infrastructure for a redundant Intercloud node in Deutsche Telekom's high-performance data centers in Magdeburg and Biere near Berlin, Germany. Deutsche Telekom will deliver services throughout the European region. With the initial Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, Cisco and Deutsche Telekom will build around OpenStack.

According to the announcement:

"[OpenStack] allows the transition of all virtualized workloads into the cloud at the highest scalability and with significantly improved cost efficiency, while helping to ensure data sovereignty. Moreover, standardized APIs, open standards, virtualization and application policy libraries will be added. This allows true workload mobility between private enterprise clouds, virtual private clouds of Deutsche Telekom, public cloud infrastructures of different providers and the Intercloud node; greatly simplifying cloud access for customers."

The two companies say they will also work with ISVs on building out relevant applications. And, it's worth noting this: "Special focus will be given to cloud applications enabling the Internet of Everything (IoE), collaboration, cloud-based virtual managed services and cloud-based systems management solutions."