Company: OrionVM, San Francisco, CA
Entry Submitted By: Allison Baloglu Creative
Company Description: Founded in 2010, OrionVM is a wholesale Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider. We have developed a revolutionary technology suite (virtual storage, compute, orchestration and virtual networking) to enable the delivery of high-performing and highly reliable Cloud solutions at market-leading price/performance ratios.
Nomination Category: Products & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Cloud Infrastructure

Nomination Title: OrionVM Wholesale Cloud Platform

1. Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 525 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and performance to date:

The cloud landscape is dramatically evolving, and yet the conversation is focused on recent price drops from big players like Amazon and Google. While price is important, all clouds are not created equal. Emerging technology innovations have given rise to a new level of cloud infrastructure. Enter Cloud 2.0, which significantly reduces the COGS seen in the prevailing traditional Cloud 1.0 systems of the incumbents. This is an especially important development for IT brokers, system integrators, and MSPs who need vendors that will enable scalable, reliable, enterprise-grade cloud services, and offer a business model with high profit margins. The current “race to the bottom” misses the point; the cloud is far from a commodity item that the price wars would suggest.

OrionVM is a wholesale Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider and innovator paving the way to Cloud 2.0; enabling new levels of performance, savings and flexibility for deploying and managing cloud IT.

Utilizing technology traditionally found in supercomputers, and with the investment and technical validation from computer visionary Gordon Bell, the OrionVM team constructed a completely new cloud infrastructure from the ground up. Instead of centralizing network storage for hundreds of virtual servers, they built the storage into the server by emulating the parallel design of supercomputers. Each component is tied together with Infiniband, marking the first time a wholesale cloud provider commercially leveraged the high-bandwidth networking standard. The resulting platform is more efficient, cost effective, and reliable than a stack built with traditional brands such as VMware and Cisco. OrionVM is offering a fully distributed, homogenous scale out architecture versus the traditional three tier architecture of competitors.

OrionVM’s wholesale product allows partners to easily leverage next-gen infrastructure tailored to their deployment goals. Previously cloud providers had limited options to deliver cloud services – they could either build their own cloud infrastructure, which can be too complex or cost-prohibitive, or partner with a large cloud vendor to resell their pre-built solution and earn relatively low margins. The wholesale model is a virtually untapped space between the two ends of that spectrum, where partners can have their own cloud without building it themselves. Service providers no longer must adhere to a restrictive Cloud 1.0 paradigm with soaring CAPEX, hidden scaling costs, and vendor lock-in. OrionVM partners can now within minutes provision services to support complex operational requirements, and outperform at a lower cost.

OrionVM's revolutionary technology suite (virtual storage, compute, orchestration and virtual networking) enables the delivery of high-performing, highly reliable cloud solutions at market-leading price-to-performance ratios.

The OrionVM Wholesale Cloud Platform supports Private, Public, and Hybrid cloud deployments and is built for internal consumption or resale. Partners have full control – from a complete white-label rebrand to billing integration and flexible account management.

OrionVM's technical vision represents a fundamental advancement for Cloud 2.0 infrastructure.

Founded in 2009 in Sydney, Australia and profitable since 2012, OrionVM services global clients including tier 1 telcos, MSPs, and leading SaaS/PaaS companies, with enterprise clients including Fastly, D-Link and Vodafone. OrionVM is backed by tech luminaries Gordon Bell (Microsoft Research) and Steve Baxter (Pipe Networks). OrionVM announced their US launch and a new headquarter office in San Francisco, CA in early 2014.

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2. Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

Sheng Yeo and Alex Sharp founded OrionVM while attending the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. From their dorm room they hatched an idea to build an IaaS company using a completely new technology blueprint. As CTO, Alex architects and manages the construction of the technology that keeps OrionVM on the cutting-edge of cloud computing. In addition to his role at OrionVM Alex serves as a Director at AusCloud, mentor at Incubate, and a technology advisor at startups Collusion and GrokVOD. Sheng leads the team as CEO and drives innovation within the firm, supported by his versatile background, detail-oriented nature and strong management skills. Sheng has worked across every function of a company and brings over seven years of technology experience to the organization.