Services provider brings enterprise cloud to Canada with Citrix CloudPlatform

Founded in 2005, Montreal-based CloudOps delivers private, public and hybrid cloud solutions with the leading public clouds, Citrix CloudPlatform, Apache CloudStack, and OpenStack for businesses all over the world. for businesses worldwide. Focusing on infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and application delivery, the company enables businesses of all kinds to build and maintain cloud-based operations that enhance performance reliability and security. CloudOps also launched cloud.ca, Canada’s first and only regional virtual private cloud. With its business tripling in size over the past three years, CloudOps is well-positioned as a market leader in cloud services, both in its native Canada and beyond.

The Challenge: Meeting the growing demand for high-quality regional cloud services in Canada

Having delivered cloud capabilities all over the globe, CloudOps was frustrated by the lack of cloud infrastructure available in Canada. Demand for high-quality, homegrown cloud services was increasing and the company was determined to satisfy it. In addition to building a “100 percent Canadian” cloud, CloudOps wanted to fuse the respective benefits of public and private clouds, enabling workload segregation and fine-grained security for complex applications. It also wanted clients to be able to scale their cloud architectures to meet their specific needs and to offer them a flexible billing structure for affordable, reliable services.

The Solution: Delivering secure, affordable, reliable and scalable Canadian cloud infrastructure

CloudOps didn’t need to look far to begin building a superior Canadian cloud. “Citrix is a very rare vendor in that it has most of the pieces you need for a project like this,” says Ian Rae, founder and CEO of CloudOps.

For starters, as a highly scalable server virtualization and hypervisor management platform, Citrix XenServer is perfectly suited to cloud operations. XenServer enables enterprises to consolidate and transform compute resources into virtual workloads, ensuring a smooth transition to the cloud. It is particularly effective when used in conjunction with Citrix CloudPlatform.

CloudPlatform functions as a single unified cloud management platform, efficiently and securely orchestrating both traditional enterprise and cloud-native application workloads. This turnkey flexibility enables CloudOps to offer each individual cloud.ca customer exactly the kind of infrastructure it needs.

“Our customers are often looking for a virtual version of what they already have on-premise,” says Rae. “With our virtual private cloud architecture, we give them that, with the benefit of being able to right-size [the infrastructure] to their needs and to pay for it in a more flexible way.”

CloudOps also implemented Citrix NetScaler, which when deployed alongside CloudPlatform allows for simple automated scaling of network resources using its AutoScale feature. AutoScale can be used to specify thresholds for various conditions, keeping workloads balanced in real time without requiring manual intervention. In turn, CloudPlatform configures the NetScaler appliance to load balance traffic to the application virtual machines. “NetScaler is much better suited to be run in the cloud than other load balancers,” says Rae. Its capabilities have also enabled CloudOps to develop exciting new features, such as automated provisioning of SSL certificates. cloud.ca customers can upload SSL certificates and have them automatically deployed on an enterprise-class application delivery controller.

Key Benefits

Enables delivery of affordable enterprise-grade cloud experience

Because the Citrix solutions supporting cloud.ca are enterprise-grade and cost-efficient, CloudOps is able to offer its customers high-quality cloud architecture and support at a price that works for businesses of all sizes. “Citrix products are well-priced to support the market,” says Rae. “There’s no way to do what we’re doing, providing an enterprise-grade private cloud experience at the cost we’re doing it, with any other vendor.” Another way CloudOps passes down its savings is by billing by the hour, so customers only pay for the services they use.

Provides stability and reliability via mature, proven solutions

Solutions like CloudPlatform and NetScaler are firmly established with a proven track record. “Maturity makes them battle-tested to an extent you don’t see elsewhere,” says Rae. CloudOps deploys these tools with confidence, safe in the knowledge that it can pass on that stability and reliability to its own customers. And when troubleshooting is required, Rae and his team take comfort in the experience of their go-to vendor.

Supports complementary products thanks to Citrix open integration philosophy of ‘anyness’

In addition to relying on Citrix solutions, CloudOps occasionally incorporates other products to maximize the quality of its cloud orchestration. The Citrix philosophy of “anyness” ensures its offerings work smoothly alongside other standards-compliant products, enabling easy and effective integration with tools such as OpenStack. “Citrix goes further than any other vendor in their support for other tools,” says Rae.

Looking Ahead

As cloud.ca keeps expanding, and the company’s overseas projects keep growing, CloudOps plans to continue its long and fruitful partnership with Citrix. With software becoming increasingly app-centric, greater emphasis will be placed on user experience. Rae sees this as a great opportunity for CloudOps and believes that going forward, Citrix Workspace Cloud, which delivers cloud-based management that controls where app workloads run and where data is stored, will prove to be an invaluable tool for his company and its clients. “We want to make it easier for end users to access and implement applications,” he says. “Our Citrix-ready infrastructure is perfectly positioned to make that happen.”