DBR360 delivers public and hosted private clouds with Citrix CloudPlatform

DBR360 is a leading managed service provider that designs, builds and runs cloud solutions that integrate seamlessly within existing enterprise IT environments. From single- and multi-tenant cloud infrastructure services to managed hosting solutions, DBR360 provides a path to the cloud that ensures continuity between the application and network.

The challenge: making it easier for customers to integrate the cloud with existing IT infrastructures

DBR360 observed that it was becoming increasingly more difficult for customers to find managed cloud providers that made it easy to connect their virtual data center environments to their existing IT networks. Due to this lack of integration, enterprises often defaulted to best-effort Internet access, resulting in compromised performance and reliability.

The solution: IaaS cloud built with Citrix CloudPlatform      

With the growth of cloud services, DBR360 decided to deploy its own Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution and directly connect  to  private carrier gateways throughout the U.S. This design provided a significant advantage to enterprises desiring to leverage existing environments while taking advantage of the cloud.  After looking at various cloud orchestration platforms—proprietary and open source—DBR360 decided to implement Citrix CloudPlatform, powered by Apache CloudStack. “We researched most of the products available in market and found that Citrix gave us the most features and the best network integration. We also selected Citrix CloudPortal Business Manager to help with the business logic, and Citrix XenServer in the background to centrally manage our infrastructure,” says Anthony Lobretto, Vice President, Engineering and Technology Solutions.

Key benefit: differentiation with a best-in-class cloud solution

To address a growing opportunity in the market, DBR360 decided to invest in  best-of-breed cloud orchestration and business logic platforms, providing a leading network-aware cloud offering. This combination of advanced cloud technology with the company’s enhanced network capabilities provides a unique value proposition and differentiation. “Before selecting a partner, we put a handful of vendors through a rigorous evaluation process.”

“We are excited to be working with Citrix due to their current capabilities and track record to continually innovate and lead in this space. Our ability to tie their cloud offerings to our private network solutions gives us a significant edge over competitive solutions,” Lobretto comments.

Given that the financial industry is one of the verticals that DBR360 serves, it was extremely important for them to  provide a dedicated hosted infrastructure to this specialized group of security-conscious customers. CloudPlatform enabled DBR360 to offer two versions of cloud services and manage both offerings from a single pane of glass.

Lobretto believes that given the way technology is moving, it’s almost imperative for a service provider to understand how the network aligns with the cloud. “It’s something that all of our clients are looking for and a lot of carriers and managed service providers are trying to figure out. We just think that we can do it better with CloudPlatform,” Lobretto goes on to say.

Key benefit: faster time-to-market with new services           

CloudPlatform provides DBR360 with a turnkey solution to offer flexible and differentiated cloud services to their customers. The time-to-market was critical for DBR360. “We needed a team to work with our engineering group on this solution, where many of the features were already baked in, minimizing our need for heavy development,” says Lobretto. Once the architecture was completed, it took DBR360 less than two months to deploy the solution. Furthermore, CloudPlatform seamlessly integrated with  existing systems, enabling the company to further accelerate the introduction of their solution to market. 

Key benefit: new growth opportunities

Lobretto points out that CloudPlatform enables DBR360 to grow its managed infrastructure services with a proven, scalable solution that seamlessly links with the company’s network to provide customers integrated visibility and control. He notes that customer interest in the new cloud continuity solution has been tremendous. “I don’t think that there is a CIO on the planet that doesn’t either have a cloud strategy or knows that they should have one. What Citrix gives us is the ability to enter these organizations and ensure  they can execute on these strategies, while aligning with existing IT environments,” says Lobretto.

Looking ahead

DBR360 is ready to expand their services to new geographical markets and believes that Citrix will be instrumental in helping them succeed. “CloudPlatform is a very scalable product that can be implemented quickly across our global deployments,” says Lobretto. DBR360 is also looking at integrating other Citrix products in their environment, beginning with Citrix desktop virtualization, and will continue to leverage Citrix cloud solutions to offer additional services in the near future.