Secure, open, hybrid: T-Systems’ public cloud

The Open Telekom Cloud from T-Systems is an Infrastructure as a Service platform operated out of the public cloud, providing customers with a real alternative to the U.S. hyperscalers. Companies benefit from a comprehensive range of computing, storage, networking, security, and management services. In addition to this, they can also choose from a variety of platform services including big data frameworks and virtual desktops. Open Telekom Cloud meets companies’ most important selection criteria. It is secure, open, and reliable, and it can be used as a basis for hybrid cloud architectures.

All cloud services can be booked and debited within just a few minutes. The Open Telekom Cloud is currently offered in two price models: with Open Elastic, customers only pay for the resources they actually use. Pay-as-you-go resources are measured and charged at minute intervals. In the Reserved model, the price depends on the duration of the resources booked (12, 24, or 36 months). Companies can choose to pay either in monthly installments or in advance, with a discount of up to 60 % percent for the latter.

The Open Telekom Cloud combines the price advantage offered by public cloud services with maximum flexibility and compliance “made in Germany.” At the same time, it meets the highest standards for data security and data protection, as all data, contracts, and services are subject to German law. All Open Telekom Cloud resources offer quick and direct availability. Administration and integration into existing IT environments takes place online.

Open Telekom Cloud’s technical basis is the open-source cloud operating system OpenStack. A community of around 100,000 people and over 600 companies is continuously working to develop OpenStack. In comparison to proprietary technologies, OpenStack reduces vendor lock-in to a minimum. All public cloud resources can then be integrated into existing IT environments via standard interfaces.

According to the Bitkom Cloud Monitor 2019, a further factor in a company’s decision to opt for public cloud services is the availability of cloud services. Many companies complain about outages, in 46 percent of cases blaming these on technical problems on the part of the cloud provider. Open Telekom Cloud offers an availability of at least 99.95 percent. This is partly due to “Zero Outage”, a holistic program for quality assurance. The measures outlined in the zero-defect strategy are carried out across all levels: from state-of-the-art platforms and globally uniform processes with short fault clearance times to specially trained personnel and tried-and-tested risk management. The Open Telekom Cloud has was awarded Zero Outage certification by the TÜV Rheinland.

A public cloud from a German provider with built-in compliance and OpenStack as an open standard – and all this at standard commercial public cloud prices. The Open Telekom Cloud also offers companies the option of implementing multi-cloud or hybrid cloud scenarios.

The automotive industry, for example, requires powerful computing resources for virtual crash tests – preferably on demand. The Open Telekom Cloud provides corresponding bare metal, high-performance, GPU, and FPGA flavors for these simulations. When developing new car models, manufacturers rely on expensive CAD software that they can also use as on-demand software in the Open Telekom Cloud. Flexible use reduces costs and supports agile development models.

• Computing, storage, networking, and security from the public cloud
• Can be booked flexibly and at short notice as required
• Easy integration into existing infrastructure
• Operated exclusively from German cloud data centers
• Availability of at least 99.95 percent
• As self-service or managed service

• Best possible compatibility between private and public cloud thanks to OpenStack
• Managed Service by Telekom’s experienced cloud experts
• Operation in the Telekom’s data center or company’s own
• Tailor-made private cloud at calculable costs
• Low vendor lock-in risk and high level of sustainability thanks to OpenStack
• Comprehensive support around the clock in addition to training and consulting services

Koblenz-based startup Particulate uses IT resources from the Open Telekom Cloud to operate a donation platform, completely dispensing with its own servers. Auto-scaling allows IT capacities to adapt to actual demand. Particulate uses up to eight virtual machines for this purpose. The data volumes are stored in Particulate’s secure and inexpensive Object-Based Storage (OBS).

The Cologne-based software company Ambient Innovation specializes in contract work, developing and operating individualized applications for companies using container technology. While in the past Ambient Innovation has relied on its own resources or local servers, it now also uses the Open Telekom Cloud. Today, the startup uses three clusters with a total of 14 virtual machines for test, production, and shared environments in addition to the LoadBalancer function, Object-Based Storage (OBS), and the Cloud Eye Service (CES).

Open Telekom Cloud offers a wide range of services. Some are central cloud services, such as computing, storage, networking, and security. Others help to make working with cloud resources more convenient and cost-transparent.