Verizon acquires enterprise services provider CloudSwitch

Verizon on Thursday announced it will purchase cloud services firm CloudSwitch with the intent of boosting its enterprise and IT offerings.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Verizon plans to combine CloudSwitch with the Terremark IT services company it already owns. The company hopes the CloudSwitch software, which enables enterprises to easily move applications and workloads into the cloud, will help companies move over to Terremark’s services.

Specifically, CloudSwitch currently provides an interface so customers can port applications to Amazon Web Services, Terremark and Microsoft Windows Azure’s clouds. By owning CloudSwitch and Terremark, Verizon can assure customers of better security and control between CloudSwitch and Terremark. In theory, this could help peel some enterprise customers away from Amazon and Microsoft.

“The cloud market is a rapidly growing opportunity, with very real benefits both for our business customers and the consumers they serve,” said Bob Toohey, president of Verizon’s global enterprise unit, in a statement.

CloudSwitch previously earned $15.4 million in two funding rounds. In January, 2009, CloudSwitch raised $7.4 million in first-round funding from the likes of Atlas Ventures and Matrix Partners. The company then grabbed another $8 million in its second round in June, 2009. The company was reportedly in talks for a third round when Verizon approached it with an acquisition proposal.

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Tags: Amazon Web Services, cloud services, enterprise services, Microsoft Windows Azure

Companies: Amazon, CloudSwitch, Microsoft, Terremark, Verizon

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Home energy management provider EnergyHub raises $14.5M

EnergyHub, a provider of energy efficiency products and associated software, announced today that it has raised $14.5 million in its second round of funding.

The company builds web-enabled home energy software that tracks electricity usage. It sells outlets, surge protectors, thermostats and the like that plug into a home’s network and then exports that data to a web-based interface. It then gives home owners suggestions — such as powering down an air conditioning unit — to save money on electricity.

“We market those solutions through two channels — utility companies and soon, directly to consumers,” EnergyHub’s marketing director Eric Fleming told VentureBeat.?”When smart meters are present, utilities can leverage EnergyHub systems to implement demand response programs.”

Right now the company sells its hardware to utility providers that then install the devices in homes. It plans to sell its energy efficiency hardware directly to consumers and homeowners soon, but Fleming didn’t say when those products would be publicly available.

The company is one of several that are developing “smart grid” technology — that is, managing an electrical power grid with advanced computer algorithms to promote better energy efficiency and reduce electricity waste.

The company also sells a “home base,” a small tablet-like device that tracks all the electricity in a home. EnergyHub already has mobile versions of its application for devices running Google’s mobile operating system Android or the iPhone operating system. But Fleming said that it makes sense for most consumers to get the home base to serve as a hub for the information.

“In order to get individual appliance-level control and information about energy use, you need an in-home network,” Fleming said. “Our Home Base integrates this capability into an in-home display.”

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Tags: energy efficiency, Smart Grid

Companies: EnergyHub

People: Eric Fleming

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