Orange Business taps into hybrid cloud opportunity with VPN offering

Orange Business Services is targeting the growing multi-site enterprise hybrid cloud opportunity by adding a Business VPN Internet offering to its growing business VPN service product suite.  

As a part of its Hybrid Network strategy, Orange Business' VPN Internet provides users business-class Internet, which it says improves performance for the entire network by eliminating congestion risks on the IP VPN, reducing Internet access latency and prioritizing business-critical traffic.

While business customers can use other access methods, including traditional T-1s or DSL, the majority of customers are using Ethernet to access Orange's VPN services.

Instead of having to have a separate access port for VPN and one for Internet, Business VPN Internet creates one common circuit to accommodate both services simultaneously.

"Previously, the customer would have needed a separate access for his VPN traffic on Ethernet and a separate one for Internet traffic," said Andrew McFadzen, head of Global Marketing, Network Solutions, during a press and analyst event launching the new product. "We now have what we call a hybrid port so we use a single access circuit connected to a single port, and by doing that we can offer greater flexibility, but also be able to use the spare bandwidth available for Internet access when the port is carrying less VPN traffic."

A customer that has an 8 Mbps access circuit could use 4 Mbps VPN for their business critical traffic and use the other 4 Mbps for Internet traffic, for example.

"The way we have structured it is that in the event that the VPN traffic is running less than 4 Mbps, the Internet traffic can burst above that nominal speed," McFadzen said.

A key element of the service is global reach.  

It is supported by 15 global Internet gateways in major cities in five continents, including: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Europe and the United States. Gateways are currently available in London, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Sydney, Tokyo, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg and Bahrain. The service provider will implement more in the coming year based on users' demands.

"At all of these 15 gateways, the Orange private WAN is peered with the Orange open transit network," McFadzen said. "By peering in these gateways with our open network, but also with potentially with other Tier 1 providers, we're ensuring that when a customer exits its VPN and goes into the Internet, they're going to get the best level of service."

The new service also addresses security concerns by incorporating virtual firewall protection at each gateway based on the customer's security policy. Orange Business Service will also offer a cloud-based security option such as URL filtering.

Orange claims that hybrid Internet/WAN ports, which are available with no additional costs, can also help enterprises reduce bandwidth costs by up to 30 percent.  

Already, the new service has been adopted by professional services company Aurecon.

"We chose Business VPN Internet to enhance our global collaboration, security, productivity, customer service and lower our costs," says Sean Elwick, head of IS, Aurecon, in a release.

Having a global VPN offering has been one of the reasons behind Orange Business Services' Ethernet growth.

The service provider has been listed as one of the top global Ethernet providers on Vertical Systems Group's Global Ethernet leaderboard, maintaining the No. 1 position throughout 2013 and 2014.

VSG said that Orange Business' Ethernet advantage is its ability to provide Ethernet access to VPNs to multi-site global customers over its network.

For more :
- see the release

Related articles:
VSG: Orange, BT, Verizon maintain lead in global Ethernet market
Metro Ethernet Forum names Orange's McFadzen as new chairman
Orange Business beefs up cyberdefense capabilities with Atheos acquisition