AT&T Launches Utility Computing Service

AT&T has introduced a next-generation utility computing service to provide managed networking, security and storage services for business customers. The announcement is part of its $1 billion global network investment planned for 2008.

AT&T Synaptic Hosting is built on technology from USinternetworking, which was acquired by AT&T in 2006 for $300m, and combines five internet data centers in the US, Europe, and Asia. The IDCs will support large-scale computing and applications on demand through virtualized servers and deliver services across its IDC hosting infrastructure.

AT&T said utility computing eliminates the need for companies to have their own data centers, while paying only for the IT capacity needed on a day-to-day basis. It said one of the first customers is the US Olympic Committee, whose official web site Teamusa.org is powered by AT&T Synaptic Hosting.

Ron Spears, group president at AT&T Global Business Services, said: “The AT&T global network, combined with our powerful computing platform, is driving the convergence of networking and hosting services in ways that are allowing companies to deliver end-user applications whenever and wherever they are needed, while paying only for the capacity actually used.”