Cbeyond Intros Certified Application Servers for SMB Market

Cloud communications provider Cbeyond, Inc. announced the general availability of its new Certified Application Servers (CAS) service for the small and mid-sized business market.

The new service – developed in response to Cbeyond’s December 2012 Business Leader Snapshot Survey – is designed to allow users to securely access and run their most frequently used business productivity applications from anywhere, on any device at any time. According to the survey, 91 percent of SMB owners said applications will be critical to their business in 2013, highlighting the value of providing safe, universal access to essential business productivity programs and relevant data.

“Our goal is to provide SMBs with a superior cloud experience that is no different than what they experience on a local desktop,” Chris Ortbals, senior vice president, product management at Cbeyond, said in a statement.  “As the only cloud provider tailoring and supporting applications for specific SMB use cases, Cbeyond further serves as the technology ally to small and mid-sized businesses, helping them drive efficiency by truly aligning both cloud and network capabilities.”

Cbeyond’s Certified Application Servers allow businesses to take an existing enterprise application and associated data to a secure cloud environment that will then mirror their on-premise server experience. In addition, Cbeyond can certify business productivity software programs, including proprietary software programs, to meet individual customer needs while guiding them through a rapid migration to the cloud.

To certify an application, Cbeyond’s engineers perform operational, load and impairment testing across a range of network technologies to ensure compatibility with various network access points. Finally, cloud servers are sized, configured and packaged for optimal application access and performance across a number of concurrent users, above and beyond minimum software manufacturer recommendations. 

The Certified Application Servers certification process is an entry point for enterprise and SMB ISV applications across a variety of vertical industries such as accounting, legal, and medical industries and accommodates programs most commonly used across the SMB spectrum.

The Atlanta, Ga.-based company plans to support an additional six to 12 applications each quarter, officials said.

To ensure security, Cbeyond houses its CAS service in its SOC-3 compliant data center, which leverages intrusion prevention systems, enterprise-grade hardware and private firewalls to block unauthorized access.