Toronto-based Cogeco Data Services has unveiled plans for a new public cloud service that will provide Canadian business with public, private and hybrid cloud services.

Scheduled to launch early 2015, Cogeco is calling its new public cloud the first of its kind in Canada to offer customers a choice between flexible enterprise-class virtual environments, including Microsoft’s Hyper-V and VMWare’s vSphere platforms, allowing businesses to host applications and workloads in the cloud on the platform of their choice.

“We take pride in being a customer-centric organization that combines best-in-class technology with a consultative approach.  The development of our geo-redundant fully managed Public Cloud is another step in our mission to empower customers with solutions that enable better business agility,” said Virginia Brailey, vice-president marketing and product management, Cogeco Data Services, in a statement. “Our new public cloud, combined with our dedicated cloud and suite of managed IT and connectivity services provide customers with a single point solution to manage their unique IT requirements.”

Features of the Cogeco public cloud offering will include virtual data centre, next-generation storage performance management, hybrid capabilities and geo-redundancy, with managed security, IT and Public and Private connectivity options. Solutions from vendors such as Microsoft, VMWare, NetApp, Cisco and Ensim underpin the offering, which is hosted in Cogeco’s tier 3 quality data centres in downtown Toronto and Barrie, Ont.

“Our customers, and the majority of Canadian companies, are increasingly looking to cloud service providers to help them achieve predictable IT costs and reduce complexity,” added Brailey. “Regardless of industry, size or location, our new fully managed Public Cloud will have the capability to help businesses increase efficiencies.”