Managed Services Roundup: Earthlink, MegaPath, Birch, Global Capacity

Time for a quick roundup of news from managed network services providers, with a contract for Earthlink, a product enhancement for MegaPath, some funding for Birch, and a partner for Global Capacity.

J. Smith Lanier has upgraded its network infrastructure with the help of Earthlink (NASDAQ:ELNK, news, filings), whom they’ve been working with for more than 15 years. The privately held insurance broker has moved to a 20-location private MPLS network that connects all their southeastern office locations. It also gives them the ability to access Earthlink’s data centers and the cloud services provided there down the line. Earthlink is reconfiguring itself as a managed services and network provider, building off of the various assets it bought over the last couple of years.

MegaPath announced enhancements to its remote access SSL VPN product aimed at mobile workforces. The service complements the service provider’s MPLS network with cloud-based, secure access for employees from otherwise insecure locations.

Birch Communications says it has rounded up $12M in new financing from CoBank. That increases the capacity of their senior credit facility, and gives them some more flexibility for their IP network expansion. Birch has been very acquisitive in this incarnation, and likely will continue to roll up more small managed network assets from here.

And Global Capacity says it has joined Amazon Web Services’ partner network. They’re now offering dedicated connectivity to the AWS cloud platform via their One Marketplace exchange service, which they have been steadily adding depth to over the past year. Amazon’s AWS is becoming a necessary endpoint to have on-net across the industry.

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Categories: CLEC · Cloud Computing · Managed Services