Loudcloud has unveiled Managed Services 3.0, an expanded range of
services equipped with a radically reduced pricing scheme and
customised hosted solution.
Loudcloud's Managed Services 3.0 subscription model has been
tweaked to attract customers eager to begin its relationship with
the managed services provider (MSP) through a low-risk pilot or
static Web site deployment, said Frank Chen, director of product
services for Loudcloud.
The new service offerings will fall into three categories. In order
of adjoining services and technical level of support, they include
Loudcloud Deployment and Launch Services, Loudcoud eBusiness
Hosting Services, and Loudcloud Client Services.
Chen admits that Loudcloud's heavy-handed approach may have been
too much to handle for some customers, particularly those with
little need of a comprehensive pre-bundled arrangement of services
for their Web site management purposes.
However, Chen said that the company will provide a dedicated level
of support.
"[With Managed Services 3.0] we're bringing all of our optimisation
[in] OpsWare automation technology to even smaller sites. When
[customers] need to get bigger they scale with quality."
However, Ted Chamberlin, network analyst for Gartner, said
Loudcloud's initial and rigid high-end Web site infrastructure and
services play may have caused more harm than good, by shutting out
a growing portion of small to medium enterprises.
Although it should open doors to new business, Chamberlin noted
that as a direct consequence, a new challenge lay ahead for the
MSP.