F5 Adds Pay-Per-Use Billing and New Solutions for Amazon Web Services

New F5 offerings for AWS: flexible hourly billing options; orchestration and management solution; and Test Drives to provide strategic application testing at no additional charge

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• F5 customers can deploy application services across cloud and hybrid IT systems with maximum flexibility.

• With F5’s utility billing offerings on AWS, customers only pay for what they use—spinning up or down instances as needed—to optimize overall costs. Customers can choose hourly pricing or pursue a fixed cost model through the previously announced perpetual license approach. As the first step, F5 is providing use of its BIG-IP® Local Traffic Manager™ (LTM™) Virtual Edition software through the AWS Marketplace at no additional charge for a limited time.

• F5 is adding its management and orchestration tool, BIG-IQ™ Cloud, to the AWS Marketplace, as well as the first in a series of F5 Test Drive demonstrations, showcasing BIG-IP support for SharePoint deployments.

AWS re:Invent, LAS VEGAS—F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) announced today an hourly billing model for its BIG-IP® Virtual Editions, and availability of its BIG-IQ™ Cloud orchestration product in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace.

By introducing flexible billing options for BIG-IP Virtual Editions, F5 provides customers with the ability to spin up (or down) application delivery infrastructure and services as needed. Organizations can quickly and seamlessly enable application-focused capabilities—such as cloud bursting, cloud-based app development and testing, and moving entire application workloads to the cloud—without requiring the up-front investment previously associated with such tasks. As its first utility billing solution available, F5 is offering promotional use of its BIG-IP®Local Traffic Manager™ Virtual Edition at no additional charge ($0 per hour) for a limited time in the AWS Marketplace, with other solutions to follow.

Today’s news is aligned with the recently announced F5 Synthesis™ architectural vision, which promotes simplified business models and licensing options, enhancing the value of F5® solutions for customers. The new offerings build on F5’s previously announced solution on AWS, available in a “Bring Your Own License” (BYOL) model. Now, the BIG-IQ Cloud orchestration solution is also available for AWS through BYOL. In addition, a number of Test Drive demonstrations will be available at no additional charge to highlight the benefits of using F5 solutions on AWS to support popular applications, such as SharePoint and others.

KEY BENEFITS

• Simplified Deployment of Application Services in the Cloud – By introducing on-demand provisioning, utility billing, and Test Drive demonstration capabilities, F5 is enabling organizations and application developers to easily add services to support their applications.

• Improved Systems Agility – Pay-per-use models through the AWS Marketplace enable organizations to maintain elastic Application Delivery Controller (ADC) infrastructure resources and react quickly to change. Utility billing and Test Drives from F5 let customers try out services on a limited basis to determine the best way to support their specific applications and business needs

• Flexible Billing and Reduced Capital Expenses – AWS customers can pay just for the F5 services they use, lowering overall TCO. Hourly pricing models remove the need for up-front capital expenses, making F5’s industry-leading ADC capabilities more accessible to the growing number of AWS customers. In addition, with BIG-IQ Cloud, customers are well positioned to automate capacity management for ADC services, leading to additional cost savings.

• Enhanced Orchestration and Infrastructure Visibility – BIG-IQ Cloud enables customers to rapidly deploy and simplify the orchestration of services in cloud, data center, and hybrid IT environments. In addition, it provides a centralized view into health and monitoring statistics for BIG-IP solutions. This delivers a clear picture of when additional resources are needed to support fluctuating demands from applications and users.

SUPPORTING QUOTES

“Our vision is simple—if your applications are in the cloud, F5 helps make sure they are fast, secure, and reliable. We deliver an extensive portfolio of Software Defined Application Services™, built on a high-performance fabric of physical and virtual solutions. With today’s announcement, we’re enabling more types of customers to efficiently manage and improve application deployments in all types of AWS cloud environments.”
Alex Rublowsky, Sr. Director of Platforms and Licensing at F5

“As enterprise cloud initiatives become more pervasive, AWS Partner Network members are providing a broad range of options that add value to AWS and meet the evolving needs of customers. By adding Test Drive and hourly billing capabilities, F5’s cloud solutions become more accessible to organizations pursuing IT flexibility and lower TCO.”
Terry Wise, Director, Worldwide Partner Ecosystem, AWS

“For our purposes, the ability to only pay for what we need—when and how we need it—brings an extended set of application services within reach. With F5’s new offerings, we don’t have to commit to specific licenses or equipment up front, giving us the freedom to move additional IT capabilities and applications into the cloud without worrying about prohibitive costs or a lack of control.”
Yamen Bakr, Sr. Infrastructure Architect, Yellow Pages Group

AVAILABILITY AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The promotional version of BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager VE is available now in the AWS Marketplace for a limited time at no additional cost. Utility billing for BIG-IP application services will commence in the first quarter of calendar year 2014. BIG-IQ Cloud is available now in the AWS Marketplace through a BYOL model. F5’s first Test Drive for AWS, focused on supporting SharePoint, is also available now through https://testdrive.f5.com.

To learn more about how F5 enables organizations to realize the full potential of cloud computing, visit F5 (booth #721) at the AWS re:Invent conference and go to www.f5.com/products/technology/amazon/.

About F5

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) makes apps go faster, smarter, and safer for the world’s largest businesses, service providers, governments, and consumer brands. F5 delivers cloud and security solutions that enable organizations to embrace the application infrastructure they choose without sacrificing speed and control. For more information, go to f5.com. You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technologies.

F5, F5 Synthesis, Software Defined Application Services, BIG-IP, BIG-IQ, Local Traffic Manager, and LTM are trademarks or service marks of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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