F5 Networks

F5 Networks Inc., a provider of Application Delivery Networking (ADN) offerings, announced Wednesday a new global cloud licensing program developed for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud providers. The F5 cloud licensing program offers benefits for IaaS cloud providers, their customers, and channel partners alike. By including virtual editions of BIG-IP solutions as part of its cloud licensing program, F5 provides complete enterprise-class ADN solution in the cloud.

Enterprise IT customers transitioning to a cloud model are faced with tradeoffs. Cloud providers offering services typically require that IT relinquish control or create a unique management environment for off-premise applications. This often causes friction between the IaaS provider and enterprise IT, with the service provider having difficulty complying with IT’s preference to retain control and ensure that applications are available. Until now, IaaS cloud providers have had to buy the necessary infrastructure to address these demands and support their customers. However, this creates an enormous amount of business risk for cloud providers, due to the reluctance of enterprise customers to sign long-term contracts or employ a predictive use model.

With the introduction of its new cloud licensing program, F5 addresses these requirements. Providing a unified architecture for both private and public clouds with virtual editions on its BIG-IP platform, F5 now offers its advanced ADN solutions in a utility billing model. This enables enterprise customers to leverage the same enterprise-class IT infrastructure that they have in their private clouds, while giving the IaaS cloud provider the ability to better manage their cash flow.

“F5’s new cloud licensing program brings the power of our ADN solutions to the cloud while offering the flexibility of a pay-as-you-go billing model,” said Jason Needham, senior director of product management at F5. “Cloud providers can realize significant benefits from participating in this program, including a differentiated service offering, a larger target market, and enhanced revenue opportunities.”

The F5 cloud licensing program allows IaaS cloud providers to offer a full range of virtual BIG-IP solutions without incurring additional up-front costs. Additional benefits that IaaS service providers enjoy under the cloud licensing program enable IaaS cloud providers to branch out from competing solely on a price-per-compute basis and utilize all of F5’s BIG-IP Virtual Edition products to offer advanced ADN services and capabilities. F5’s cloud licensing program aligns with the traditional billing model utilized by IaaS cloud providers, where providers only pay for the number of instances in use. Its flexible licensing allows IaaS cloud providers to offer fee-based, real-time ADN services with no up-front costs and no long-term commitment.

F5’s cloud licensing program enables a complete cloud-based ADN stack. With virtual editions of BIG-IP solutions, enterprise customers receive advanced ADN features and services, including application delivery, performance, and security. With the F5 BIG-IP platform, accessing the cloud is simplified without the impacts of vendor lock-in. IaaS cloud providers have the freedom to select a hypervisor and virtual infrastructure to meet the needs of their enterprise customers. Unlike other vendors, F5 supports both Citrix XenServer and VMware vSphere.

In support of the cloud licensing program, F5 has created a channel-specific program, COHESION, which allows traditional channel partners to engage in cloud-specific opportunities and sell a specialized software solution to their qualified customers. Where other cloud licensing programs exclude the channel, under COHESION, F5 channel partners have the opportunity to engage with IaaS cloud providers. Visit F5’s Partner Resource Center for more information regarding COHESION.

F5 also announced Wednesday that it has migrated its global online community, DevCentral, to a cloud environment. DevCentral runs F5’s cloud-enabled ADN solution in multiple Bluelock Virtual Datacenters hosted in the public cloud, while adhering to IT best practices for scale, control, and security.

“Any time you have a customer that is unsure of the expected volumes or length of a project and wants to rent the infrastructure, we can’t win the deal without a pay-as-you-go business model,” said John Qualls, SVP of Business Development at Bluelock. “The F5 cloud licensing program opens up a lot more opportunity in the market than we have had access to traditionally.”