"With the addition of Managed Microsoft Azure Services, Cogeco Peer 1 is offering customers flexible, customizable solutions that enable them to unlock the full potential of Azure to accelerate their enterprise transformation," said Bertrand Labelle, Vice President Marketing and Innovation, Cogeco Peer 1. "These services will power the potential of businesses looking to simplify their journey to the cloud and optimize their investment in Azure. They will benefit from a secured, monitored and optimized Azure environment entirely designed for their specific business needs and managed by our team of experts. This is about optimizing return on investment for customers who don't always have the expertise or capacity to take full advantage of the power of Azure".

IDC predicts that by 2021, worldwide spending on managed cloud services will grow to US$62 billion, driven by organizations' need to manage public cloud and private cloud in a hybrid delivery model. Adoption of managed cloud services will be led by the U.S. market with adoption more than tripling, from 16% of firms in 2017 to 54% by 2019. "Customers of managed cloud services value high availability, rapid problem resolution, rapid provisioning, frequent service updates and affordable services", according to David Tapper, IDC Program Vice President, Outsourcing and Managed Cloud Services. "It is important for providers to build a partner ecosystem of cloud services to deliver a seamless managed service".

As a Microsoft Gold-Certified partner, Cogeco Peer 1's range of Azure services now span the complete journey to the Azure cloud platform, encompassing solution design/build, migration, ongoing management and connectivity. Each service can be accessed independently, bringing choice and flexibility to customers and allowing them to choose a bespoke level of service based on their business needs.

In addition to this customizable approach, ongoing management of Azure is on a consumption basis, so management fees flex as Azure usage changes, making it as efficient as possible for customers to unlock the full potential of Microsoft Azure for their business and optimize their cloud investment.

As a Microsoft Connectivity provider, Cogeco Peer 1's expertise extends beyond Azure management to connectivity. Through the Cloud Connect for Azure ExpressRoute service, customers can benefit from a dedicated, highly secure connection between their existing infrastructure and Azure, allowing them to access network performance to match the power of Azure.

Andrea Carl, Director, Commercial Communications, Microsoft Corp. said, "We are pleased to see Cogeco Peer 1's commitment to Microsoft Azure. Cogeco Peer 1 benefits from the productivity, intelligence and hybrid capabilities of Azure, supporting our mutual customers in their cloud journey."

Cogeco Peer 1 Managed Microsoft Azure provides help relating to the day-to-day operational management of infrastructure within the Azure Cloud. The service includes best practice advice as well as the following features:

• Configuration Assistance and Technical Support
  • For supported features in the Azure portal and on virtual machines
• Network Services
  • Azure Virtual Networks
  • Azure VPN Gateways
  • Azure Network Security Groups
  • Azure Load Balancers
  • Azure ExpressRoute
• Virtual Machines and Scale Sets
  • Automatic Operating System security updates and patches
  • Anti-Malware security service for Windows
  • Monitoring of Virtual Machine availability with response for alerts
  • Managed Backup service
• Azure SQL Database (Cloud database as a service)
  
  

To learn more about Cogeco Peer 1's holistic range of Azure services spanning design/build, migration, management and connectivity visit https://www.cogecopeer1.com/services/it-managed-services-solutions/managed-microsoft-azure/.

ABOUT COGECO PEER 1:

Cogeco Peer 1 is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX:CCA) and is a global provider of essential business-to-business products and services, such as colocation, network connectivity, managed hosting, cloud services and managed services, that allow customers across Canada, Mexico, the United States and Western Europe to focus on their core business. With 16 data centers, extensive FastFiber Network® and more than 50 points-of-presence in North America and Europe combined, Cogeco Peer 1 is a trusted partner to businesses small, medium and large, providing the ability to access, move, manage and store mission-critical data worldwide, backed by superior customer support. More information visit: http://www.cogecopeer1.com/.

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