September 18, 2009 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) –
ThinkGrid, a leading provider of IT services from the cloud, is pleased to announce that its continued programme of international expansion will now see the company moving into the southern hemisphere, with the establishment of new points of presence in Sydney. The city is regarded as Australia’s technology hub and is a key centre for Internet distribution and ICT services exports in the country.
CEO Rob Lovell explains: “Our new data centre facilities in Sydney will extend and improve our capability to provide IT services from the cloud, and will allow us to reach more customers than ever before. With their specialised knowledge of the country’s IT market, our network of partners will be able to bring the advantages of truly scalable cloud computing services to many of the 1.8 million Australian SMEs who do not have the financial resources of larger enterprises. In order to ensure full redundancy, two sites are already live and able to provide low latency services, and these facilities provide good connectivity not only to Australia but to the entire Asia-Pacific region, giving us the opportunity for continued growth across the globe.”
ThinkGrid has already signed up several new partners in Australia. Simon Probert, Director of Skybox, stated: "We are pleased to align ourselves with ThinkGrid as our primary delivery partner. The Australian market is perfectly suited for the adoption of cloud computing services as there are numerous incumbent suppliers still entrenched in the 'old way' of providing IT services. The main challenge is one of educating the business consumer that the Australian broadband infrastructure is perfectly capable of supporting on-demand cloud based services, in particular the Hosted Desktop product line. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over 90% of Australian businesses already have fast broadband capability – but interestingly only a small percentage of this capability is being used beyond the usual web surfing and email scenario. With Skybox in partnership with ThinkGrid we hope to release the Australian business owner from the rigid constraint and cost of owning and maintaining IT systems."
When asked how businesses in Melbourne and Sydney were reacting to the Skybox proposition, Probert commented: "The reception so far as been amazing. Small and medium-sized business owners seem to grab the cost saving aspect very quickly. ThinkGrid was a logical choice for us to partner with as they are able to provision the full range of cloud services that a typical business can benefit from. This relationship also gives Skybox clients confidence that their services are being delivered on a tried and tested enterprise-grade cloud platform."
