Managed Service Provider Week in Review

This week’s managed services news had a decidedly global flavor. The headlines were peppered with major contract and expansion announcements from around the world as new and established companies grow their presence in emerging markets.

Orange Business Services was focused on the Middle East retail sector with the announcement of a three-year, multi-million-dollar contract renewal. The telecom giant will provide managed and cloud-based services to MAF-Carrefour Hypermarkets through its cloud VPN, as well as manage domestic WANs in a number of countries, including the UAE.

MSP and satellite giant Hughes Communications India Limited (HCIL) has moved into the financial and banking markets in India, the company announced this week. They have received managed services orders from banks with more than 800 locations across India, and the company is also establishing white label ATM services for Tata Communications. HCIL has received close to $25 million in orders in the first half of the financial year.

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) has meanwhile chosen to conquer North America, picking CoreSite Realty Corporation for its first North American peering Exchange. LINX will enable a vast expansion at the site in northern Virginia, which connects more than 480 networks and more than 1,100 ports.

And in Canadian managed services news, Ricoh Canada Inc. has added cloud backup and recovery services to its portfolio, powered by CTERA’s cloud storage platform. The new RCloud Services: Backup & Recovery are being offered as part of Ricoh’s cloud-based ECM solution, combining a local on-premises appliance with secure and managed cloud infrastructure.