Tata Communications: Taking Cloud to the Next Level

We recently caught up with Rajesh Awasthi, Global Head of Cloud and Managed Hosting Services at Tata Communications, to learn how he sees the market for cloud solutions taking shape, where enterprises are harnessing the cloud’s potential, where they’re struggling, and what it means for Tata Communications to be a VMware Cloud Verified provider.

“When we look at the cloud, we view it through a lens that is mindful of the present and the future,” Awasthi says. “Tata Communications focuses on helping businesses understand and navigate market challenges and growth opportunities by making the most of digital solutions that span across network, mobility, collaboration, and security services while simultaneously positioning them to benefit from the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, automation, and analytics. We deliver customized digital solutions to our customers seamlessly through the cloud, which in turn is underpinned by one of the most advanced, wholly owned, sub-sea fiber-optic networks in the world.”  

With the ability to draw on its network, which carries about 30% of the world’s internet routes, Tata Communications offers an extensive cloud services portfolio that includes everything from customized software-defined data centers to new, cutting-edge infrastructure for cloud-based applications that enable companies to do business in new ways. Today, the company maintains a presence in more than 200 countries and territories and serves more than 60% of the Fortune 500.

Tata Communications’ managed services are offered from 17 data centers across the globe, including seven in India, three in the United Kingdom, two in Singapore, two in the US, as well as Dubai, Hong Kong, and Munich. Tata Communications also has two cloud nodes, one in Mumbai and one in Delhi, for the government of India.

Taking cloud to a new level

The company’s IZO^TM Cloud Platform, including its IZO^TM  Private Cloud offering, is a VMware Cloud Verified solution that is based on a wide range of VMware technologies including vSphere, NSX, vCloud Director, and vRealize Log Insight.

“We’ve taken cloud to a new level with the enterprise-class flexibility, scalability, and security that businesses demand,” says Awasthi. “Our IZO^TM  Cloud platform and services built on VMware technology harness the power of the cloud while eliminating the migration challenges enterprises face by allowing them to seamlessly expand their on-premises environments. The platform also makes it possible for our customers to move seamlessly to a hybrid, multi-cloud environment, which enables a high-performance, reliable, and secure application experience. For these reasons, being VMware Cloud Verified is exceptionally important not only to Tata Communications, but also to our customers.”

There are other benefits as well, including the speed that VMware’s technologies add to the process.

“By being VMware Cloud Verified, we ensure that our customers can keep managing their environments with the VMware tools they already use, while modernizing their applications with cloud-native services,” Awasthi observes. “Regardless of whether their cloud strategy revolves around cloud migration, extension, or protection, they can achieve it faster with existing skills, tools, processes, and familiar, proven VMware technologies.”

Awasthi adds that Tata’ Communications’ customers are harnessing the potential of the cloud in numerous ways. The company is seeing significant demand for hosting customer-facing applications as well as mission-critical workloads for industries such as e-commerce and retail.

That’s not to say that every organization’s cloud journey is easy.

“Our customers are intent to move their infrastructure and applications to the cloud to gain speed and flexibility while converting their IT spending to a consumption-based model,” says Wong. “What can make it daunting are the legacy applications and workloads that, even after a successful migration, still require decentralized support teams with different skill sets. That’s where having a partner that has guided many enterprises on their cloud journeys really makes a difference.”

Not surprisingly, Awasthi is optimistic that more and more enterprises will embrace the cloud, which will benefit businesses as well as consumers.

The proliferation and wider adoption of the internet of things (IoT) at an enterprise level will also boost the importance of having a robust cloud strategy for businesses. With the vast amount of data that IoT generate, managing the flow and storage of this data will become critical. With the various models as well as implementation options that cloud provides, it can enable organizations to manage and make sense of the data, contributing to overall efficiency and making the most of the technology deployments.

“At Tata Communications, our Internet of Things initiative reflects the dramatic impact we believe the cloud will have on society,” he says. “Our global mobility and IoT offering is already enabling organizations with network independent borderless solutions. In India, Tata Communications is building the foundation for IoT with its LPWAN network, spanning nearly 2,000 communities and touching over 400 million people in total. We are providing critical and sustainable solutions such as smart lighting, asset tracking, worker productivity, and more. That’s a future we can all be excited about.”

Learn more about Tata Communications and its partnership with VMware here.