BOGOTA, Colombia, November 30 , 2011 - O4IT,  a service provider leader with presence in the United States, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, announced it will implement the Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS™) to offer virtual desktops in the cloud. The implementation is designed to provide mobility, flexibility, a high level of security and cost reduction to O4IT's customers under a low-redundant infrastructure.

Aware of the market potential and companies' computing needs, O4IT has become the pioneer in the region to implement a virtual desktop service on demand under the name CloudDesktopNow.  This integrated service includes thin terminals, firewalls, connectivity, a data center and software licensing.  

The advanced virtualized desktop solution allows the workforce to use the productive computing environment of a company anywhere, anytime and from any device.  

The success of the O4IT desktop solution is due to the efficient technology of its data centers, along with the highly qualified staff. With this approach, Cisco and O4IT make it possible for small and medium-sized businesses to migrate their infrastructures to the cloud. 

At the core of O4IT's technological infrastructure is the Cisco UCS chassis, which combined with the power of Cisco® switches and interconnectors, helps guarantee fast service provisioning in a simplified way.  This infrastructure in data centers located in different geographical areas has been ideal to satisfy the needs of multinational organizations. Companies in the floricultural sector, with crops located near Bogota, Colombia, and commercial offices in Florida have discovered the benefits of having a virtual desktop solution that simplifies and facilitates the employees' tasks.  Similarly, companies in real estate, transportation, retailand specialized services industries have found in CloudDesktopNow the answer to their technological needs.  

Highlights  

• With the aim of optimizing the virtual desktop technological resources, O4IT has designed a  multitenant environment whose infrastructure involves the Cisco Unified Computing System, an EMC centralized storage system with a SAN VNX line, and the virtualization software vSphere 4.1 of VMware.
• The efficient architecture uses the Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 operating system, running one security domain with multiple subdomains assigned in an exclusive way to each customer. In this environment it is possible to have dedicated and shared servers for isolated customers through different virtual local area networks (VLANs) and their respective subnets, protected by different virtual firewalls.
• The desktop virtualization runs on Citrix, where the roles of the perimeter and security devices like NetScaler, the Web servers published in the applications, the licensing servers and the databases are configured to support multiple customers, leaving the application servers running in the virtual desktop.

Supporting Quotes

• Efraín Soler, CEO, O4IT

"In order to assure the acceptance of the CloudDesktopNow model in the Americas region, the users' experience has to be completely transparent, which means that the user does not realize the differences between the traditional computer and the virtual desktop through the thin terminals and mobile equipment. To support this service with the proper security, scalability and quality, it is necessary to have a unified system which facilitates the management, maintenance and implementation in a fast and safe way. This is why we chose Cisco UCS;  its robustness and adaptability allow us to deliver a highly functional and safe service."

• Fernando Rodriguez, Virtualization and Cloud Computing Development Manager, Cisco Latin America Northern Cone

"The desktop virtualization offered as a service through O4IT is an example of the perfect value that an end-to-end virtualized architecture can offer: any device, anywhere, anytime and for any kind of information. This is the real meaning of virtualization we are working for within Cisco, and we want to build it with innovation and together with customers like O4IT. In this case, Cisco UCS server platforms allow us to make that virtualization real, thanks to the convergence starting within the data center and extending directly towards the preferred device of each user along the network.

About O4IT

O4IT is a recognized leader in technology services. It provides support to many organizations and more than 2000 users in the world, with headquarters in the United States, Colombia, Andean Region and Central America. As experts in technological infrastructures, they have a wide range of Cloud Computing options and services to satisfy all the customers' needs. For further information, please visit  http://www.o4it.com/

About Cisco

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