Xerox Launches SMB Cloud IaaS, BDR Services for Channel Partners

Xerox is expanding its SMB cloud play with the extension of its existing infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and the availability of a new cloud backup and disaster recovery (BDR) service to the venerable technology firm’s VAR partner base.

The IaaS platform, dubbed Xerox Cloud IaaS for Midrange and Intel Systems (catchy!), is delivered via five data centers around the globe and designed to “to run enterprise-type applications, legacy apps, ERP solutions and database applications that simply aren’t supported in traditional, Intel-based IaaS,” according to the company’s website. It includes support for a wide variety of guest operating systems including Linux, Windows, IBM AIX, Oracle Sun Solaris, HPUX and IBM I-series.

Customers can provision their own IaaS infrastructure with a “click and pick” interface, according to Xerox in the press release, and it comes with full auditing and reporting capabilities. In an e-mail, a Xerox spokesperson confirmed that Xerox Cloud IaaS is an extension of its partnership with Cisco.

SMBs thinking about signing on to the Xerox Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery Service take note: according to the company, everything stored in its so-called Business Cloud — from OS to applications to data — can be restored in less than 24 hours. Xerox is positioning it as an affordable, pay-as-you-go choice for SMBs that don’t want to lock themselves into long-term contracts.

It’s worth noting that Xerox has a different definition of SMB than, say, Google, as Xerox Cloud is priced for organizations with annual revenue between $10 and $250 million. Yikes.

All the same, Senior VP of Xerox Cloud Services Ken Stephens sais this approach helps businesses of all sizes take advantage of the cloud:

“Cloud technology is often presented as a complex, ‘big company’ infrastructure solution.  But, in fact, managing IT operations in the ‘cloud’ is just as relevant and affordable for smaller companies and can be even more impactful. Expanding Xerox’s IaaS and Backup and Recovery services to SMBs is the next step toward offering a full suite of business cloud services that SMBs can access on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model.”

Right on to Xerox for jumping into the cloud with both feet. But I question Stephens’ belief that the cloud is seen as prohibitively expensive, especially when it comes to SMBs with revenue in the eight- or nine-figure range. Amazon Web Services, for example, lets SMBs get started with IaaS and backup in the cloud for free.

So while I have no doubt there are a few Xerox VARs who are going to get really excited over this solution set, I’m still concerned that the company itself needs a reality check when it comes to the cloud computing market.