Iomart is a provider of complex managed and cloud computing services. The companys boast is that cloud is in its blood; it has not, like some of its competitors, added cloud onto another offering. Instead, it has invested in Tier I infrastructure, network, people and systems over many years, so it can provide high quality cloud services.Whats more, Iomart prioritises reliable service to its customers, and this is certainly supported by its range of ISO certificates: ISO 9001, 20000, and 27001. Its services are backed by service level agreements and guarantees, and it also has an in-house team of technical experts to provide back-up to its customers. LocationIomart has eight UK and six international data centres, all of which are connected via its own fibre backbone. These centres are in London, Maidenhead, Manchester, Nottingham, Gosport, St Asaph in North Wales, Glasgow and Leicester. This geographical spread gives it reach right across the UK, especially in the key client areas of London, the M4 corridor, the Midlands, North West and the Glasgow/Edinburgh hub.These locations also offer a balance between proximity to client centres, and options for more space and therefore more services and/or more clients. And not all the data centres offer exactly the same service. For example, the St Asaph data centre offers disaster recovery as well as various more standard data centre services. The global data centres are mostly in the US, in Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, New Jersey, Virginia and Sacramento, Dubai and Singapore. This gives Iomart global reach from East to West, and coverage of the whole worlds time zones. Energy Iomart’s energy related pledges are about trying to reduce its energy use and increase efficiency wherever possible, and recycling more. Its not pushing radical new ways to cool or power data centres, such as geothermal energy, or moving to Iceland. Instead, its focused on a form of offsetting, helping the charity Rainforest Concern to operate. While all these are very laudable, they are moving into the territory of baseline requirements that every data centre provider has to do them to survive. Leading the pack takes a little bit more. It seems possible that Iomart is relying on its reputation for reliability and longevity at the expense of innovation in energy use. Funding/business model Iomart is listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM), and has been since 2000. It is profitable and cash-generating as a business, always an attractive combination for likely investors. It aims to grow both organically and through acquisitions, ensuring that it invests in its physical infrastructure so that it can maintain the high level of service that it offers. Customers/Partners Iomarts key partners are Microsoft, VMware, Dell, EMC and Asigra, with whom it holds professional accreditations. But it also uses the word partner to describe resellers of its services. Its partner programme has three levels: Referral Partners can earn commission for referring their clients and contacts to Iomart. Payment is made on the basis of the average monthly recurring revenue of any closed deal. Preferred Partners can integrate Iomarts cloud products, infrastructure, support and expertise into their own package. They get a discount, from 2 to 17% depending on annual contract value, making this a very flexible option. White Label cloud, which delivers cloud solutions through a network of channel partners. Selling service and reliability Iomart has chosen to focus on a platform of high levels of service and total reliability in its data centre provision. It has invested heavily in the infrastructure needed to maintain data centres around the world, and ensure that it can offer customers around the world high quality co-located and managed hosting services. Having recognised long since that the only way to offer reliable cloud services is by owning and managing its own reliable data centres, it is now well-placed to deliver to customers. Detractors might suggest that Iomart lacks focus on innovative cooling and heating solutions, and therefore on its energy use. But it seems likely that the sensible investor or commentator will look at what it does well, and conclude that a good many customers will place high value on guaranteed levels of service and a commitment to keeping energy costs as low as possible. Iomart seems likely to prosper on that basis. The digital health of healthcare The Global Open Data Initiative (GODI): sharing resources on how to use open data
