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Cbeyond wanted to help ensure that the vendor it selected would be able to provide 
a comprehensive cloud solution, from the network and security to compute and 
storage capabilities. In addition, support for Microsoft Hyper-V release 2 and the 
availability of resources to assist throughout the project were critical factors as well. 
Solution
Cisco Services conducted the POC, which included validating Cbeyond’s proposed 
service platform design, verifying that various network element combinations were 
interoperable, and testing for performance and scalability.
After the three vendors were evaluated, Cbeyond determined that Cisco could most 
effectively meet all of its requirements. “Cbeyond’s banner is the intersection of 
the cloud, network, and security, and we’ve been partnering with Cisco for years 
to achieve this,” says Ortbals. “Thus, it made sense to go to Cisco for our cloud 
services. Cisco presented us with a complete stack that merges our network with 
cloud capabilities in a repeatable, scalable architecture that can be used in our 
current and future data centers. Other vendors would have pieced it together from 
multiple sources.” 
Ortbals adds, “Being able to extend our managed hosting capabilities into our cloud 
services with Cisco’s offering was a big play for us in terms of the partnership and 
our decision-making. Going with Cisco as a single vendor offered a clear advantage 
over using three or four different vendors to accomplish the same task. Cisco was 
the only vendor that could provide this level of integration.”
“One of the finalists was about to enter the cloud market, and we would have 
ended up competing with that company,” says Tim Myers, vice president of cloud 
technology at Cbeyond. “We wanted to find a vendor that worked with us, not 
against us, to build and grow our business, and Cisco was the best fit for that.” 
Today, Cbeyond’s TotalCloud Data Center, which the company offers as a service 
platform for public and private cloud solutions, is powered entirely by Cisco
®
 
technology. Cbeyond is using Cisco Unified Computing System
 (Cisco UCS
®
) as a 
server layer for its virtual servers, hosted offering, and internal corporate compute. 
The company also has Cisco UCS Blade servers and Cisco Nexus
®
 switches in the 
cloud infrastructure. In addition, Cbeyond is using Cisco UCS to provide a Hosted 
Microsoft Exchange (HME) environment to its customers. The company also recently 
migrated its physical servers to Cisco UCS Rack Servers (C Series), and all of 
Cbeyond’s network and edge products are also based on Cisco technology. 
Cbeyond recognized that its long partnership with Cisco would be key in helping 
it meet the aggressive implementation schedule for bringing the TotalCloud Data 
Center to market. From proof of concept through implementation, Cbeyond engaged 
Cisco Services to meet these goals. 
Further, Cisco Services provided Data Center Optimization Services and Network 
Optimization Services, which helped Cbeyond develop network designs and 
configurations that allow for the best performance across the network. “Network 
performance is a critical piece of our strategy to run production applications in the 
cloud, and Cisco Data Center and Network Optimization Services help make sure 
we are at top performance,” says Ortbals. 
© 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Customer Case Study
Chris Ortbals
Senior Vice President
Product Management