Supporting Work and Life in the Cloud

It would be hard to overestimate the value of cloud computing and the internet. The changes those innovartions continue to bring often is underestimated.

Sometimes an acquisition proves so vital that one might actually argue the acquired firm actually bought the acquirer. Or so quipped PCCW Global CEO Marc Halbfinger at his PTC’23 main stage session, talking about Console Connect. 

Though “network as a service” was among the key themes he addressed, Halbfinger emphasized the potential for network effects as enterprises, application providers, data centers and connectivity providers are able to dial up, on demand, connectivity to cloud-based resources globally. 

source: GetSix 

Some might view the automated platform as “infrastructure as a service.” It is that, allowing users to self provision capacity and connections in granular fashion on a global basis. 

But it is the on-demand global cloud ecosystem which really represents the underlying value, Halbfinger said. Rather than simple connections between places, the platform enables enterprises to connect with each other, without intermediaries, to applications, software, sensor network providers, multiple cloud services providers. 

All of which makes Console Connect hard to categorize. Is it an automated ordering system for network resources? Yes. Is it a form of “network as a service?” Again, yes. 

Is it a form of “zero touch” automated ordering, provisioning and settlements? True. Is Console Connect a platform? Yes, but a platform with a network. 

Is the fabric a way for enterprises, app providers and computing as a service suppliers to make connections? Certainly. Is Console Connect a sales or distribution channel for its users? Yes. 

And yet the words and concepts fail us. 

Think about the original vision of the internet: any-to-any information exchange globally by computers and their users. Think about the cloud: computing services and apps accessed globally over the internet. 

Think about the promise of cloud computing: on-demand, self service, resource pooling, elastic scaling, pay per use, ubiquity, resilience and security. 

source: Slideshare 

Console Connect enables cloud computing for enterprises and people that now live in the cloud.