One tech trend redefining the sector in recent years is a move towards ‘infrastructure as a service’ (IaaS), and one Australian company is pioneering a uniquely secure IaaS approach for Defence and other customers in need of secure computing infrastructure.
IaaS refers to the shared use of network computers and storage by multiple customers, all hosted by one infrastructure provider. It allows for economies of scale and a more efficient use of expensive hardware and data centre space by essentially making computing a subscription service similar to the electricity grid or the water supply.
“The traditional model would be an individual company or organisation would all build and buy their own hardware,” Managing Director of AUCloud Phil Dawson said to ADM. “Virtualisation technology enables us to share that silicon, share that computer facility, share the storage services securely across multiple organisations instantaneously.
“So your laptop at the moment is a device that’s used only by you. While you go and have a cup of coffee, that piece of silicon can be actually shared across multiple users. We’re doing that on an industrial basis with world class security.”
According to Dawson, new players in the IaaS market are proving successful because they are singularly focussed on IaaS specialisation and adopting flexible business models that are outpacing legacy providers.
“Large technology companies are systems integrators who have a business model where they sell people,” Dawson said. “Having a successful infrastructure as a service solution cuts against the grain of those business models because you’re trying to design the thing that you sell out of the process.”
AUCloud’s offering targets Defence and other national security agencies with highly secure infrastructure that ensures sensitive data never leaves Australia, and is doing so by actually restricting its potential customer base.
“One of our differentiators from, for example, Amazon Web Services, is that they allow anybody to sign up: as long as they’ve got a credit card, bona fide or not, they can set up an account,” Dawson said. “Whereas we recognised that it’s important that you limit the community who have access to those who are able to play by the rules, to a set of standards.
Whilst there are still challenges facing a wider uptake of an IaaS computing model, the company is confident that its single-minded focus on security is about to pay off.
“We’ve put in three years hard yards in Australia,” Dawson said. “We’ve got 30 people at the moment, some of the best technical talent in the country.
"Building on five years successfully creating the leading IaaS provider to government in the UK, and three establishing the foundation of an Australian owned and operated business, I strongly believe AUCloud can deliver secure sovereign infrastructure at the highest level,” Dawson said.
“I believe very strongly that AUCloud [can] become the fastest growing technology company in the nation.”