IDC highlights Indra's posittioning as an end-to-end provider of Cloud strategies

The conclusions extracted from a study performed by IDC on the evolution and new demands of the cloud computing market establish that Indra is very well positioned as an end-to-end service provider for implementing a cloud strategy in organisations with its own technological assets. "Starting with a definition of the most appropriate roadmap for a company and a reference architecture that maximises performance and the TCO (Total Cost Ownership), Indra covers the entire journey to reach the cloud, including service management and optimisation for continuous improvement and the generation of new services", states IDC.

IDC believes that in 2014, cloud services will reach a global market volume of $1,000 million, with an estimated growth of 25% compared to 2013. According to the company, "The cloud is already a reality, not only because of new businesses that are investing in the model, but also because of the increased usage intensity of those that have been investing for longer".

According to the market intelligence firm, CIOs have shifted from viewing the cloud as simply a way to save costs to identifying it as a source of competitive advantages for making the business more agile, while allowing greater flexibility in terms of expanding or reducing these services in accordance with actual needs. In this regard, it has recognised that Indra has a proprietary infrastructure (Indra Flex IT--Indra's hybrid cloud) and technological assets (the GPaaS Platform for developing new SaaS applications, the Internet of Things concept (SOFIA) and the SaaS solutions catalogue) that "enable it to have maximum control of the service and the integration capacity with third-party infrastructures, achieving a homogeneous and simplified technological ecosystem that favours the agility and flexibility required by businesses", the IDC points out.

Towards the third platform

Along with cost savings and agility, the study highlights the growing interest of businesses in providing cloud services as a source of innovation for developing differentiated solutions. "Cloud services enable transformation processes within organisations resulting from the set of intelligent solutions that form part of what IDC refers to as the third platform and that combine these services with big data, analytics, mobility and social business".

In this context, the firm believes that Indra is well positioned to address the needs of organisations in terms of speeding up the construction of applications and services based on the third platform thanks to its comprehensive platform (Indra Smart Platform), which is comprised by the company's own technological assets, including components for development (iDynamics Cloud), multi-tenant execution (GPass), the integration of the IoT concept (SOFIA), traditional and big data repositories, as well as other repositories that are open source and can be integrated with third parties. According to IDC, "Indra's platform provides autonomy for executing a complete project, including consultancy, migration, support and the construction of proprietary solutions, improving the time-to-market of a hybrid, private or public cloud".

In Cloud: "A la carte" end-to-end services

The study also states that the new technological culture requires IT departments to include a services broker that is capable of providing the most appropriate technological solution for each business need, and this requires selecting the right technology vendors. It also believes that using consultancy and integration services to select and implement load models (public and/or private clouds in hybrid environments) and the most appropriate solutions is of great assistance for organisations that are transitioning to the cloud.

In this regard, IDC highlights Indra's In Cloud proposal that covers the entire cloud transition process, from the production to the consumption of technology, and that is already serving approximately 2,500 businesses from a variety of sectors to perform more than 25 million transactions each year. On the one hand, this offering includes a PaaS platform (Indra Smart Platform), a hybrid managed infrastructure cloud (Indra Flex IT), and a very complete catalogue of more than 40 SaaS (Software as a Service) applications that can be accessed via a proprietary marketplace (iCloud Broker) and will be integrated with a third-party marketplace (Azure, Force.com or Google Engine). In this field, some of the solutions that stand out are Isocloud, a cloud application for managing quality and environmental management systems; Direct Digital Sales, a solution that assists the contracting process through data collection via mobile devices equipped with cameras; Toyra, which provides motor rehabilitation services for upper limbs; and Netplus, a PCIDSS-certified card payment gateway for the cloud.

On the other hand, it has a hybrid services and infrastructures cloud (Indra Flex IT) that represents an important change by providing access in record time from anywhere and paying only for what is used. Indra also offers a global technological management service--Infrastructure Management as a Service (IMaaS)--that is based on Indra Flex IT, as well as Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and Application Management as a Service (AmaaS) solutions.

The final contributions within the In Cloud offering are its technological consultancy services for designing and executing infrastructure and application migration plans to cloud (Op Timiza) and business models.

The ability to respond to the primary market inhibitors in the adoption of cloud models--especially security--is another requirement for service providers. IDC believes that "the Indra Flex IT model provides security through certificates that accredit the security of the information in all its centres as well as the secure access through private networks and a dual firewall level to its private cloud. All the security levels of the infrastructure associated with Indra Flex IT are audited by a team specialised in cybersecurity". Lastly, it also highlights the flexible and customisable negotiation of SLAs (Service Level Agreements), the initial concept tests offered by the company, its monitoring and control tools that guarantee compliance, and the fact that it does not require minimum contracting commitments.

On the cutting edge of Cloud services

Indra is on the cutting edge of cloud computing services and solutions thanks to its comprehensive offer, called Indra InCloud, which covers the entire value chain of information technology services: from consultancy (helping customers optimise their capacities and minimise their costs) to the development of new solutions and the outsourcing of IT services.

In Cloud has its own assets and methodologies to support Indra's value proposal for the cloud, and its main objectives are to develop Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions that provide a particular response to specific business needs. To this end, Indra offers its customers a wide range of end-to-end solutions adapted and tailored to each sector (public sector, healthcare, energy, financial services, industry, etc.), designed to expand the functionality of their IT functionality.

This product is part of a new proprietary Cloud Computing model called Flex-IT developed to provide on-demand services to its customers. Flex-IT is based on the premise that managing information technology requires a combination of traditional and virtual models supported on private and/or public clouds, while maintaining a unique vision with a hybrid management approach. This delivery model, more evolved than the traditional one, represents a significant change in the way outsourcing services are offered, as it provides access in record time from any location with customers paying only for what they use.

About Indra

Indra is the leading Spanish multinational consulting and technology firm and one of the main players in Europe and Latin America. Innovation is the cornerstone of its business and sustainability. The company has allocated more than €550 million to R&D&i in the last three years, making it one of the top companies in Europe in its sector in terms of investment. With sales approaching €3,000 million, nearly 60% of its income is from the international market. The company employs 42,000 professionals and has customers in 128 countries.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company.

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