Rackspace: Taking the Cloud Journey to New Heights

Adept at all major cloud platforms as well as applications, data, security, managed hosting, and collocation, the length and breadth of Rackspace's services and solutions portfolio is unmatched in the industry. Their technology services are fully-integrated, easy-to-use, and tailored completely to suit a customer’s requirements. To give a brief overview, Rackspace provides support for every major public cloud provider from AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform to Alibaba Cloud. On the private cloud space, Rackspace's services extend to VMware, the full spectrum of Microsoft's offerings, OpenStack, and much more. Going beyond just pure infrastructure as a service, Rackspace even offers state-of-the-art application services to optimize the performance across several ERP systems and e-commerce platforms, such as Oracle Commerce and SAP Hybris. Keeping in mind that most organizations today have their applications and data spread across several cloud platforms, Rackspace also brings to bear the ultimate in multi-cloud flexibility. They securely connect all the private and public clouds in a client's environment for maximum efficiency. For example, if a client is using both AWS and Microsoft Azure, through Rackconnect, a hybrid connectivity offering, users can access information from both the platforms on one portal without having to toggle between two control panels. “Customers love this unique solution as it not only allows them to operate different clouds as one but also enables them to achieve seamless and stable workloads,” explains Waldinger.

Given Rackspace's customer-first, best-of-breed solutions strategy, it's easy to see why they were the first choice for HK Express, Hong Kong’s low-cost carrier that disrupted the commercial airline industry. As a young airline in a competitive market, HK Express had to stay fast and lean. They needed a technology partner that could provide a seamless booking experience for value-conscious travelers. Today, HK Express utilizes Rackspace's managed hosting solutions, which includes dedicated server hosting and completely relies on them to keep the systems running. HK Express can now focus on their core operations and maintain small internal teams, as a result of which their hiring costs dropped by 30 percent while improving performance significantly.

Fanatical about Cloud and Customers

Whether the customer is a novice in the world of cloud or looking to leverage their existing cloud infrastructure, leave it to Rackspace to determine a cloud strategy that works best for their specific needs. After an involved sales process, it's time for the professional services and solutions engineers to take over who use a consultative approach with the customer to get to the bottom of a problem. During this assessment phase, Rackspace comes out with the solution that is best suited to the problem at hand. For customers with a more mature cloud strategy, the company offers a “fast track” approach to reach the end goals, but in case heavy lifting is required, Rackspace's professional services team comes onboard. Comprising highly trained professionals, subject matter experts, and certified specialists in the various cloud platforms and technologies, the professional services team takes charge of planning, designing, migrating, and optimizing to drive complete cloud transformation. The customer also has access to monthly cloud reviews, 24/7 support, and can reach out to a service delivery manager in case of any problem.

A state-of-the-art solutions portfolio is only one half of the story. What's striking about the company’s value proposition, placing them a cut above the rest, is their compulsion to be an unbiased services company with no vested interests when it comes to suggesting a particular cloud technology. "We are thought leaders when it comes to delivering outcomes, and we aren't here to build technology companies. Instead as an IT operator, we act as an extension of your team to help make the best choice and the most from technology investment," reaffirms Waldinger.

In the 20 years of their existence, customers have always been the top priority for the company, which is evident from their concept of "Fanatical Experience." Employees at the company, known as Rackers, are always willing to go through great lengths to address customer issues through the power of proactive, always-on services. The company has over 6,500 professionals globally backing the whole system and promoting a cloud-first, customer-first approach.

An impressive customer success story is that of Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore (TMLS) that reached out to Rackspace to manage their public cloud. The client was largely looking for a partner with Azure expertise to ensure strict compliance with regulations for their new life insurance customer portal but what they received from Rackspace was so much more. Rackspace not only lived up to all expectations but ensured TMLS tasted a slice of the famed “Fanatical Experience.” During the project implementation stage, dedicated solutions architects shared valuable technical advice on how to make the best use of security services in Azure. The new customer portal will allow TMLS customers to access their policy information and transact online while improving their experience by filtering all interactions through one connected platform. With over 1,500 Microsoft certifications, Rackspace was able to offer TMLS superior assistance. Building on the success of this year-long project, there are already plans for future collaboration.

Nailing the Cloud Game

Rackspace is always looking at avenues to deliver more value to customers in every possible way, and Rackspace's acquisition of Datapipe, one of the world’s leading providers of managed cloud and hosting services was a step in that direction. The collaboration helped Rackspace further cement their leading position in the market and also improve their reach in the Asia Pacific region. Another major milestone for the company was the acquisition of TriCore Solutions, a prominent application management expert. This merger was in the light of popular requests from clients that wanted Rackspace to expand their managed application capabilities. Tricore's services fully complement Rackspace, enabling them to support mission-critical enterprise applications that companies use to manage functions such as logistics, supply chain, HR, and financial operations.

Giving a glimpse of their future roadmap, Waldinger mentions that “coming up is aggressive international expansion.” The focus will also be directed at expanding their application and professional services. Our near term goal is to be recognized as the best technology services company in the world," he adds.

Taking into account their track record so far and their future roadmap, it easy to see why Rackspace with their differentiated and next-gen cloud services is the leading choice to close the gap between the complex reality of today’s technology needs and the promises of tomorrow.