Application delivery network (ADN) specialist F5 Networks has been busy this week, announcing a licensing program for IaaS cloud providers and the migration of its DevCentral global IT community to the cloud.

The global licensing program is aimed at Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers, and with virtual editions of its BIG-IP solutions as part of the IaaS licensing program,F5 believes this to be the first enterprise-level ADN service for the cloud.

The program provides a unified architecture for public and private clouds as well as a utility billing model. According to F5, it enables enterprise customers to use the same IT infrastructure they have in their private clouds, and allows IaaS providers to better manage cash flow by avoiding capital expenditures on infrastructure and permitting flexible billing to customers.

Additional benefits for IaaS providers under the F5 cloud licensing program include:

F5 Networks also announced its global online community, DevCentral, has moved into a cloud environment. DevCentral now runs ADN solutions in multiple Bluelock Virtual Datacenters hosted in public cloud deployments, and delivers “scale, control, and security.” DevCentral had been housed in a traditional IT environment that also supported financial applications and main business functions, and F5 saw the shift to the cloud as necessary for DevCentral to successfully pursue its objectives and engage its community.

“DevCentral has grown into a flourishing, global community of IT professionals who leverage F5 products to improve business agility. Rapid delivery of features and capabilities that make it easy for members to connect with peers, engage in discussion, and share best practices has always been a top priority,” said Jeff Browning, senior director of Product Management at F5 Networks, in a prepared statement. “With our move to Bluelock’s public cloud environment, we’ve increased DevOps agility, achieving faster, more frequent application updates that optimize development cycles. This results in accelerated delivery of new features to satisfy our community, with the scale afforded by a more dynamic cloud environment — gracefully supporting our growth plan for years to come.”

Readers can click here for an overview on the F5 Networks partner program.