Going Global: Options Connects the Financial Sector to Top Clouds
- February 26, 2021
Options is on a mission to transform financial sector technology. As a top provider of managed services and IT infrastructure to global capital markets firms, the company has seven offices worldwide, a global client presence spanning 20 countries, and more than 260 subject matter experts. Today, they have one of the most reliable, robust, and scalable networks in the financial sector; but a decade ago, things looked very different.
Back in 2010, Options made a strategic decision to become the first provider to offer cloud services to the financial sector with their solution, Options Cloud Connect. But the team had a few challenges in front of them. They needed a solution that could scale to match the largest––and the smallest––of client requirements, including multicloud and hybrid cloud capabilities.
Although they had a good network foundation, they still required a point of presence (PoP) in numerous major data centers to match their global client base. And they wanted to deploy their solution on a global scale, while minimizing the expensive upfront investments that accompany building out physical infrastructure. This is where Megaport’s Software Defined Network (SDN) came in.
Global presence, quickly and easily
By partnering with Megaport, Options instantly gained access to new PoPs worldwide, increasing global availability without the time-consuming, costly infrastructure investments. The company suddenly had a presence in major data centers and availability zones, supporting their global client base in connecting to anything, anywhere, at any time.
Elastic bandwidth with Virtual Cross Connects (VXCs)
Options believes that no client’s needs are too small or too large, and with the on-demand provisioning enabled by Megaport’s SDN, it can now back up this ethos. VXCs provide the company’s global client base with cloud connectivity solutions to suit any requirements, including the ability to easily implement a multicloud or hybrid cloud strategy. And with the scalable connectivity provided by Megaport, clients have the bandwidth they need on demand at a reduced cost.
Learn more about the easiest way to connect to AWS and Microsoft Azure.
Rapid, reliable connection to cloud providers
Options clients often utilize multicloud and hybrid cloud strategies via AWS and Microsoft Azure. With Megaport, they have the capability to rapidly and reliably connect to these leading cloud service providers on demand, with an upgrade from single, low-bandwidth AWS connections to dual or multiple, high-bandwidth connections. Options now even enables clients to bridge public and private clouds via its global WAN, which extends to more than 40 financial technology-specific data centers worldwide.
Since deploying their network solution through Megaport, Options Cloud Connect clients grew 425% in just over a year. They’re also easily supporting a 575% increase in total consumed bandwidth with a 350% increase in connectivity points.
Michael Russo, VP Product – Managed Applications at Options, said, “Our partnership with Megaport has provided us with the ability to support our global client base’s emerging hybrid cloud strategies. From the start of our search for a best-fit partner, Megaport stood out due to the number of possible connection locations and the bandwidth scalability capabilities offered.”
Learn More
To read further about how Options used Megaport to send its clients to the cloud, read our case study here.
