Computerworld - Verizon today announced that it will offer a cloud computing service for small and midsize U.S. businesses to supplement a cloud service for large companies that it launched globally last year.
The company's new offering -- called Computing as a Service, SMB -- will be available to organizations with up to 1,000 employees. It will start at 3.7 cents per hour for a single virtual server with limited RAM and storage, said Patrick Sullivan, director of midtier products at Verizon's business unit.
The usage-based service can be secured with a credit card after a short online registration process, he said. There is no minimum commitment, he said.
The SMB service is housed on servers controlled by Verizon partner Terremark; the earlier-announced enterprise service is housed in Verizon's data center, Sullivan said. Using Terremark's servers helped Verizon bring the SMB service to market faster, he said, but added, "We still have a good amount of control."
Sullivan said Verizon expects its prices to be "very competitive" with those of other providers of cloud computing services to small and midsize businesses. The other providers include Amazon and Rackspace.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at 
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