NEW YORK–Datapipe, a leader in secure managed hosting and cloud solutions for the enterprise, today announced a new suite of automation and orchestration services for its Managed Cloud for AWS solution. The new Datapipe Automation Services connect the enterprise with Datapipe automation experts who perform an audit of existing infrastructures, identify key opportunities for automation, deploy custom automation solutions, and provide ongoing support to optimize frameworks and strengthen AWS service delivery.

  • Key benefits of this new automation service include:
  • Accelerated deployments of AWS environments
  • Ability to rapidly adapt to application changes
  • Reduced cost of IT operations
  • Fully automated PCI compliance

Customized approached based on each enterprise’s individual needs

“Automation is absolutely essential for effective cloud management,” said John Landy, CTO, Datapipe. “We see automation as a key part of a fully managed service, which is why we’ve built automation resources into our client teams as an ongoing, standard practice. When we increase efficiency through AWS automation, our customers are given more time to focus on what’s really important to them – their business and bottom line.”

Examples of Datapipe’s AWS Automation Services include:

PCI Compliance
With Datapipe’s automated PCI compliance module, AWS instances are automatically in compliance for PCI DSS in the space as they are provisioned. In addition, the PCI compliance module will continue to run every 30 minutes, ensuring that all servers stay in compliance and do not require manual remediation in the future.

Application Management
Datapipe can fully automate applications on AWS, allowing enterprises to update application code, test, compile, and build the application on stage servers, and ship the application to production servers in less than five minutes. The developer only has to worry about the application code, not the infrastructure, saving time and money for the enterprise with little to no risk.

Datapipe AWS Controller
With Datapipe Automation Services, enterprises now have the ability to automatically move any or all AWS services in and out of accounts/regions. Datapipe can programmatically manipulate resources on demand. The rapid response time and increased flexibility allows enterprises to more effectively respond to business and application changes.

Continuous Integration
Continuous Integration is a best practice that helps catch code-related problems at an early stage. It also helps with reverting the code base to a bug-free state quickly and easily. However, a lot of time is spent on creating builds for these modules. Datapipe’s Automation Service for AWS eliminates the need to create new builds with every configuration run, increasing an enterprise’s efficiencies and response time.

AWS Auto-Scaling
Auto-scaling helps clients maintain application availability and scale Amazon EC2 automatically. Datapipe’s automation team assigns servers to auto-scaling groups that can scale both vertically and horizontally and works with the enterprise to define and deploy auto-scaling controls, customized and capped for each client’s individual needs. Datapipe’s Automation Services also establish Elastic Load Balancers Web and Stage load balancers, which keep an eye on instances, terminate unhealthy instances, and replace with a scaled instance.

Datapipe’s Automation Services is the latest addition to our award-winning managed support and long-standing partnership with Amazon. This new service from Datapipe further proves its commitment to plan, build, and run complex AWS environments that meet the flexibility and scalability requirements of the enterprise.

Datapipe and FortyCloud Enhance AWS Security for the Enterprise
NEW YORK–At AWS Summit New York, Datapipe, a global leader in managed hybrid IT solutions for the enterprise, today introduced a new security collaboration with FortyCloud, an innovative cloud security provider, to help enterprises secure Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments. The Datapipe – FortyCloud solution, called 2Factor Secure Cloud Access, integrates Datapipe’s two-factor authentication service, Datapipe Auth, with FortyCloud’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) security model to deliver enhanced security, access and control to clients operating AWS environments, which allows for easier, more secure remote access of public cloud operations.

“Across industries, the benefits of operating a public cloud are well known; however, the risk of unleashing control of an organization’s data is still a great concern”

“Across industries, the benefits of operating a public cloud are well known; however, the risk of unleashing control of an organization’s data is still a great concern,” said Amit Cohen, Chief Executive Officer, FortyCloud. “With the added Datapipe Auth capability and the FortyCloud native capabilities, we will offer customers a complete enterprise-grade managed security solution for AWS to help remove the barriers associated with enterprise adoption of the public cloud.”

Key benefits of 2Factor Secure Cloud Access include:

  • Improved security practices – two-factor authentication puts a stop to common hacking practices such as brute force or password phishing by removing the risk of password compromise leading to unauthorized access.
  • Secure remote access to the cloud – AWS users can now access data securely, regardless of their location, through Datapipe Auth combined with a secure encrypted VPN for remote access to AWS cloud resources.
  • Enhanced manageability and control – customer administrators can control, monitor, and report on employee remote access. The Datapipe Auth portal also enables role based access, allowing clients to define roles for users and dynamically enforce access rights within AWS.
  • Greater compliance – 2Factor Secure Cloud Access addresses numerous PCI DSS requirements such as two-factor authentication for remote access, secure remote access technologies using VPN, disabling of inactive users within 90 days, and limiting access based on employee role.

Integrating Datapipe Auth and FortyCloud
FortyCloud’s award-winning security offering combines software-defined networking (SDN) and software-defined security (SDS) technologies. It includes necessary IT security elements such as AAA, encryption and firewall, in addition to identity-based access management and VPN. FortyCloud emulates the security standards of a private cloud in a public cloud environment by building a new software-defined private network over any cloud infrastructure deployment, and layering firewall and automation capabilities on top of it.

By adding Datapipe Auth to FortyCloud, clients are provided an extra layer of security through the use of two identification methods that verify a user’s identity and automatically enforce permissions to access remote systems, based on the industry standard RADIUS. Client administrators can manage users and tokens directly to assign and restrict access permissions, allowing for a greater level of user control. In addition, Datapipe and FortyCloud users can access their data from anywhere leveraging native operating system VPNs, and by installing the Datapipe Auth Token Manager application, available via a desktop computer or mobile phone. The token application is available on mobile stores including the Apple Store and Google Play. For more information on Datapipe Auth visit https://datapipe.com/security_compliance/managed_security/two_factor_authentication/.

“Two-factor authenticated VPN is a security standard for enterprises, but is rarely used natively in public clouds,” said Joel Friedman, Chief Security Officer, Datapipe. “With today’s announcement, we are making it feasible for businesses to confidently deploy the same stringent security standards found in traditional IT environments to the public cloud. Given the amount of security breaches resulting from password compromises, strong authentication is a huge benefit for today’s public clouds. In addition, the benefit of restricting users to cloud assets by role, delivers far more manageability and granular network access control than commonly used jump host configurations.”

Building On Datapipe’s Existing Security Portfolio
Today’s announcement extends Datapipe’s deep history and understanding in effectively planning, building and running highly secure and available AWS environments for clients across the globe. To date, highlights of Datapipe’s security expertise includes:

  • 16 security services across Datapipe groups and vendors
  • Developed and delivered a comprehensive Access Control Model for managed AWS environments (DACMA)
  • PCI compliant automation support of AWS and PCI compliant platforms with modules that automatically check data points to ensure servers on AWS are secure and hardened against attack
  • Named one of the first Managed Service Provider partners with AWS following a third party audit of Datapipe’s best practices based deployments and capabilities

The Datapipe 2Factor Secure Cloud Access is now available worldwide through Datapipe’s existing suite of security services. For more information on the newly formed collaboration please see: https://datapipe.com/cloud/managed_aws/.