Telefónica Launches “Virtual Hosting 2.0” for Corporations and Public Agencies in Latin America

• This service – which allows big companies and government institutions to increase their flexibility and efficiency thanks to the transition to the cloud computing – is available in all Latin American countries where Telefónica operates
• This advanced solution is supported by the VCE Vblock infrastructure platform, offering a strong cloud environment in terms of security, scalability and end-to-end support

Madrid and Miami, March 8, 2012 – Telefónica, in collaboration with Cisco and VCE, has launched a regional advanced cloud hosting service in Latin America for the corporate market segment (large companies and public agencies). The service is called Virtual Hosting 2.0, the first tailored cloud computing service offered regionally supported by the VCETm Vblock platform, the strongest in the market in terms of integrated virtualization, server, storage, networking and security technologies with end-to-end support.

The service will be offered from five interconnected data centers in Latin America, with integrated management and provision. These data centers are in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and from there they can also provide service to the rest of Latin American countries where Telefónica operates.

The Virtual Hosting 2.0 service offers IT resources as a tailored service in the cloud and on-site to companies and governmental entities. It provides an easy transition to cloud computing, which allows customers to gain flexibility in their infrastructure, be more efficient in costs, and optimize their business management with the use of the most innovative technology. In addition, Virtual Hosting 2.0 offers the benefits of an advanced virtual service, such as elasticity, fast provision in case of new company needs, private access to the network, and end-to-end management.

Initially, Virtual Hosting 2.0 includes services such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), virtual data centers, private cloud services and business continuity services in case of incidents and disasters. Under the cloud computing model, it seeks to provide the latest technologies, without the need for investment in equipment and maintenance. Not having to implement their own cloud computing infrastructure means that companies can enjoy fast service implementation and expansion, continuous evolution of the solution, and timely assistance to meet the demands of business, whether seasonal or immediate.

The strongest cloud platform of the market

An important difference of the new Telefónica Virtual Hosting 2.0 regional service is that it is based on the VCE Vblock platform, the industry’s leading converged infrastructure solution. The Vblock platform enables cloud services that are highly secure and scalable and that offer consistent, predicable performance to meet strict client service-level requirements.

With this architecture Telefónica implements a single global architecture for the cloud that can scale and evolve the service evenly throughout the region. This is extremely useful for corporations with a presence in Latin America, because it meets their need for uniform services in the countries where they operate.

For Daniel Jiménez, director of the corporate segment, Telefónica Latin America, “this solution, in collaboration with Cisco and VCE, allows the strengthening of the pillars of the Telefónica regional and global offer in the corporate segment, based on communication, mobility, cloud services and information security solutions. With Virtual Hosting 2.0, we advance in a solid and definite way to provide a robust service of infrastructure as a service, adapted to the needs of big corporations and government institutions, with the possibility of offering them both full and hybrid solutions with the highest levels of security and providing an end-to-end service unique in the market.”

“Cloud computing is the business model for the delivery of services to customers. Companies, service providers and government agencies are looking for cloud solutions to reduce costs, increase profitability and create innovative business models. Cisco enables customers to take advantage of network intelligence, the power of data centers and business applications. The result is an attractive and safe cloud experience with applications and services supplied from any place, at anytime and from any device. We want to thank Telefónica Empresas Latinoamérica for trusting Cisco as the technological partner for its cloud computing solution in Latin America,” said Jaime Vallés, Cisco senior vice president for Latin America.

“With this new 2.0 Virtual Hosting service many more customers in the region will join cloud computing, ensuring their technological and competitivenes in the market. As part of th eVCE coalition, EMC is always seeking new opportunities to support Latin American companies, and this new joint effort between EMC, Cisco, Telefonica and VMware facilitates the adoption of cloud projects in companies seeking growth and certainly find in the cloud the opportunity to be more successful. We are pleased to form this new front with our strategic partners for the benefit of Latin America,” said Octavio Osorio, EMC’s vice president for Latin America. “With VCE technology, Telefónica will be in a privileged position at the regional level to offer cloud services with resilience, security and performance.”

“The Vblock infrastructure platform integrates innovative technologies of computing, network, storage, security and virtualization, which will help Telefónica to deliver solutions and services to their customers. The VCE coalition and Telefónica are working together in the deployment of an agile, scalable and safe IT infrastructure that will allow them to provide the highest levels of services to their customers in the region and the world,” said  Leon J. Taiman, vice president, VCE, responsible for the Latin America and Caribbean markets.

About Telefónica

Telefónica is one of the largest companies in the world in market capitalization and number of customers. From its consolidated position in this sector, and with telephony and fixed and mobile broad band as key supports to its growth, the company orients its strategy to secure its leadership in the digital world. Present in 25 countries and with a customer base of more than 306 million of accesses, Telefónica has a strong presence in Europe and Latin America, important industrial alliances and a leading global escalation which positions the Company in the capture of growth. Telefónica is a fully private company with more than 1.5 million direct stockholders. Its social capital is currently divided into 4.563.996.485 ordinary stocks listed in the continuous market of the Spanish stock market and in the stock markets of London, New York, Lima and Buenos Aires. (www.telefonica.com)

About VCE

VCE, or Virtual Computing Environment, formed by Cisco, EMC, and VMware with investment by Intel, accelerates the adoption and convergence of infrastructure based on cloud computing models, which will reduce IT costs while improving the time to market of our customers. VCE, through the Vblock platform, delivers the industry an integrated IT offer with end-to-end responsibility by the vendor. The VCE solutions are available through an extensive network of partners, and covers applications horizontally, vertical offers of the industry and the development of applications in different environments, allowing the customer to focus in the innovation of the business instead of the integration, validation and management of the IT infrastructures. For further information, please visit www.vce.com.

About EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

About  Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in emerging markets is provided by Cisco Systems International B.V. and Cisco International Limited, wholly owned subsidiaries of Cisco Systems, Inc.