Top 100 solution provider goes live with its Canadian cloud

In May of this year, Dimension Data Canada announced that it would expand its cloud offering to Canada with a facility in Toronto.

Today, that facility went live as the company’s new Managed Cloud Platform (MCP). This Canadian MCP brings Dimension Data’s worldwide cloud centres to 12.

The key to the Canadian location is that it will address data sovereignty requirements and reduce latency through proximity, while providing an expanded cloud presence for multi-national clients interested in locating data inside of Canada.

Dimension Data’s Canadian MCP will also be used to accelerate Cisco’s delivery of hybrid cloud services. Dimension Data in May was named one of Cisco’s first ever Intercloud channel partners.

Wendy Lucas, country manager for Dimension Data Canada, said the MCP’s enhanced reliability, flexible capacity on-demand, automation and orchestration through the company’s CloudControl and API-based integration offer clear benefits to clients and OneCloud partners in Canada and around the world.

The Toronto MCP will be connected to Dimension Data’s global network of cloud data centres and will be have a consumption-based pricing model. Dimension Data’s network of 12 MCPs can deploy servers and storage, while also using a Web-based interface or API so that clients can choose the Toronto destination, provision and configure virtual local area networks (VLANs) and firewalls, and report on administration and usage.

According to the company, all 12 Dimension Data MCPs provide 99.99 per cent availability Service Level Agreements (SLAs), as well as 24/7 phone support and integrated management capabilities. Additionally, the new MCP has been built on Cisco, EMC and VMware architecture to provide multiple layers of security and administrative controls to users.

Steve Nola, group executive of Dimension Data’s ITaaSBusiness Unit said, the cloud economy contributes nearly $5 billion annually to Canadian gross domestic product.

He called Toronto the data-centre capital of Canada and added that the addition of Dimension Data’s MCP in Toronto aligns well with future client growth and demand.

Following the Canadian MCP, Dimension Data will open a similar facility in New Zealand, which is expected to go live later on this year. Other Dimension Data MCP locations are: Santa Clara, Calif., Ashburn, Va., London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, Dimension Data’s home town of Johannesburg, South Africa, Tokyo, Hong Kong, China and Sao Paulo in Brazil.