Cisco Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud 4.3.1 Guida Informativa
Challenge
Swisscom AG is the largest telecommunications provider in Switzerland. In addition
to providing mobile, digital television, and Internet services to millions of private
residents throughout the country, Swisscom also plans, implements, and operates IT
and communications infrastructures for businesses of all sizes.
to providing mobile, digital television, and Internet services to millions of private
residents throughout the country, Swisscom also plans, implements, and operates IT
and communications infrastructures for businesses of all sizes.
In recent years, Swisscom has encountered a challenge familiar to telecommunica-
tions companies (telcos) everywhere. As more customers shift from landlines to
mobile devices, and as the mobile market becomes more competitive and complex,
many telcos are finding it necessary to create new revenue streams by offering a
broader range of services. In 2011, Swisscom confronted this challenge with the
introduction of Dynamic Computing Services, a comprehensive cloud offering de-
signed exclusively for Swiss businesses looking for a secure, scalable, cost-effec-
tive approach to IT.
tions companies (telcos) everywhere. As more customers shift from landlines to
mobile devices, and as the mobile market becomes more competitive and complex,
many telcos are finding it necessary to create new revenue streams by offering a
broader range of services. In 2011, Swisscom confronted this challenge with the
introduction of Dynamic Computing Services, a comprehensive cloud offering de-
signed exclusively for Swiss businesses looking for a secure, scalable, cost-effec-
tive approach to IT.
Difficulties quickly emerged. “We developed our own customer-facing portal for the
cloud offering,” says Thomas Gfeller, product manager at Swisscom. “Almost right
away, we could see that our software had serious limitations. The billing and fulfillment
processes were insufficiently automated, which resulted in unnecessary operating
costs. Customers had very little transparency into the management of their cloud data.
And most importantly, the solution was hard-coded and did not offer the configuration
flexibility we needed for a rapid time to market of new product features.”
cloud offering,” says Thomas Gfeller, product manager at Swisscom. “Almost right
away, we could see that our software had serious limitations. The billing and fulfillment
processes were insufficiently automated, which resulted in unnecessary operating
costs. Customers had very little transparency into the management of their cloud data.
And most importantly, the solution was hard-coded and did not offer the configuration
flexibility we needed for a rapid time to market of new product features.”
Many of these difficulties arose from the size and diversity of the Swisscom customer
base. The company runs four selling organizations, each aimed at a different segment
of the corporate market, and Swisscom leadership wanted to integrate all of these
units into a centrally managed cloud solution. “For years, each selling unit had its own
IT lifecycle,” says Adrian Flückiger, head of cloud infrastructure services corporate
business at Swisscom. “That creates a great deal of unnecessary overhead. To make
our cloud offering scalable and keep it affordable for our business customers, we
needed to extend our IT capabilities across multiple front units.”
base. The company runs four selling organizations, each aimed at a different segment
of the corporate market, and Swisscom leadership wanted to integrate all of these
units into a centrally managed cloud solution. “For years, each selling unit had its own
IT lifecycle,” says Adrian Flückiger, head of cloud infrastructure services corporate
business at Swisscom. “That creates a great deal of unnecessary overhead. To make
our cloud offering scalable and keep it affordable for our business customers, we
needed to extend our IT capabilities across multiple front units.”
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Customer Case Study
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Customer Name:
Swisscom AG
Industry:
Telecommunications and
IT service provider
Location:
Worblaufen, Switzerland
Number of Employees:
19,500
Challenge:
• Automate billing and fulfillment
processes in customer-facing cloud
portal
• Extend unified cloud capabilities
across multiple business units
• Meet stringent security requirements
for business-ready cloud solution
Solution:
• Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud
for on-demand cloud-based workload
deployment
• VMware vCloud Director to provision
virtual data centers almost instantly
• Cisco Services to optimize solution for
full integration of Cisco software and
legacy hardware
legacy hardware
Results:
• Reduced operational costs by
provisioning servers in minutes rather
than weeks
• Scaled to manage fluctuation in user
demand without increasing IT staff
• Offered more flexible pay-per-use
billing options to cloud customers