CTERA Networks has scored a major telco client in its own back yard: The Israel-based cloud storage and data protection provider has announced that Bezeq, which bills itself as Israel’s largest telecommunications provider, is leveraging CTERA’s cloud attached storage and appliances management portal to launch Bezeq Remote Backup for Business, its new hybrid cloud solution for managed storage and data protection. The Israeli telco launched a pilot program of its new service with the CTERA portal about six months ago before officially hitting the market.

Despite its Israeli roots, CTERA does most of its business in North America and Europe, said CTERA Networks VP of Marketing Rani Osnat, who added the Israeli market accounts for “only a very small percentage” of the company’s overall revenue. Bezeq’s use of CTERA’s platform won’t catapult the Israeli market to the top spot, but it will noticeably increase that small percentage. Today, Bezeq has more than a million Internet service subscribers.

Bezeq plans on doing more than selling its CTERA-based cloud  service directly to its SMB customers. The telecommunications provider will also sell its storage and data protection solution through resellers and managed service providers that currently manage their own branded service hosted on the Bezeq cloud platform. Bezeq’s goal is to meet the storage and data protection needs of its SMB clients, while helping them cut costs by making file servers and backup tapes obsolete. The Bezeq-CTERA solution starts at $5o per month and includes a local appliance, built-in backup software and cloud storage.

For CTERA, Bezeq’s adoption validates the moves the company has made in the last year and a half around hybrid cloud offerings. It began in August 2010 when CTERA partnered with Seneca on a hybrid cloud storage solution. It continued its hybrid cloud approach in June 2011 when it created a high-capacity hybrid cloud gateway solution. And in August 2011 CTERA created more hybrid cloud solutions in tandem with EMC Atmos when it joined the EMC Atmos Velocity Partner Program.

There are more examples, but the point is CTERA has a clear goal to support hybrid cloud environments. So when a telco with more than a million subscribers like Bezeq adopts the CTERA portal, the message is very clear: The company’s strategy is working.