In 2016, Datapipe announced it was named a global managed service provider (MSP) partner of Alibaba Cloud. Later that year, it was named Asia Pacific Managed Cloud Company of the Year by Frost & Sullivan. BMJ opened a local Beijing office in 2015, and its attraction to engaging Datapipe’s services at the outset was due to Datapipe’s on-the-ground support in China and knowledge of the local Chinese market.
Sharon Cooper, BMJ’s Chief Digital Officer says, “We see the People’s Republic of China as a key part of our growing international network. Therefore, we needed the technical expertise to be able to expand our services into China, and a partner to help us navigate the complex frameworks required to build services there. Datapipe, with its on-the-ground support in China and knowledge of the market has delivered local public-cloud infrastructure utilising Alibaba Cloud.”
Last year, BMJ used Datapipe’s expertise to move to a new, agile way of working. BMJ fully virtualised its infrastructure and automated its release cycle using Datapipe’s private cloud environment. Now, it has implemented a hybrid multi-cloud solution using both AWS and Alibaba Cloud, fully realising the strategy it started working towards two years ago.
“It is exciting to be working with a company that has both a long, distinguished history and is also forward-thinking in embracing the cloud,” said Tony Connor, Head of EMEA Marketing for Datapipe. “Datapipe partnered with Alibaba Cloud last year in order to better support our clients’ global growth both in and out of China. We are delighted to continue to deliver for BMJ, building upon our private cloud foundations, and taking them to China with public cloud infrastructure through our relationship with AliCloud.”
Alex Hooper, Head of Operations, BMJ says: “We have now fully realised the strategy that we first mapped out two years ago, when we started our cloud journey. In the first year, we were able to fully virtualise our infrastructure using Datapipe’s private cloud, and in the process, move to a new, agile way of working. In this second year, we have embraced public cloud and taken our services over to China.”
Alex Hooper, explains further: “Previously, we could only offer stand-alone software products in China, which are delivered on physical media and require quarterly updates to be installed by the end-user. With Datapipe’s help, we now have the capability to offer BMJ’s cloud-based services to Chinese businesses.”
This has been made possible by utilising data centres located in China, using Alibaba Cloud, which links to BMJ’s core infrastructure and gives BMJ all the benefits of public cloud infrastructure, but located within China to satisfy the requirements of the Chinese authorities.
Alex Hooper continues, “With Datapipe’s help, it was surprisingly easy to run our services in China and link them to our core infrastructure here in the UK, Datapipe has done an exemplary job.”
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BMJ has seen extraordinary change in its time. Within its recent history, it has transitioned from traditional print media to becoming a digital content provider. With Datapipe’s help it now has the infrastructure and culture in place to cement its position as a premier global digital publisher and educator.
