Joyent, the global cloud computing software and service provider, and ICOS, the leading Italian distributor of IT enterprise infrastructure solutions, have announced an agreement to provide SmartDataCenter software to local channel providers and service partners.

SmartDataCenter, a cloud infrastructure software program developed by Joyent, requires lower infrastructure investment owing to higher hardware utilization rates, faster performance, and cloud analytics. The software includes local storage, which significantly reduces the total cost of ownership of cloud data centers. SmartDataCenter has the flexibility to deliver a wide spectrum of cloud services, from the support of legacy applications through server virtualization, to the availability of storage and compute power. In addition, the software also supports a multi-tenant PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) for the development of new applications and services, which will meet customer requirements and maximize the returns for VARs and Service Providers.

“We are glad that we have a partner like Joyent whose solution is currently the industry’s best cloud computing infrastructure platform,” said Riccardo Maiarelli, CEO of ICOS. “SmartDataCenter fits particularly well into our market strategy, providing the most efficient infrastructure solution for organizations wishing to make strategic use of their IT environments. Thanks to Joyent’s flexibility, our partners today have a double opportunity: they can deliver software and services to support the development of their customers’ private clouds, or they can themselves become cloud providers, responding to growing market demand.”

Joyent, headquartered in Switzerland, offers an integrated technology suite designed for service providers, developers and enterprises. JoyentCloud.com delivers public cloud services to some of the world’s most innovative companies, including LinkedIn and Kabam, and also licenses its cloud software to service providers such as Dell, FirstServer and XYBase, among others.

ICOS places emphasis on the strategic architectures for data centers, such as virtualization and cloud computing. As a partner of leading technology vendors, the company provides a complete set of server, storage and software solutions, integrating them with technical, marketing and educational services. By partnering with ICOS, Italian VARs will have the opportunity to offer their customers private cloud infrastructure that is easily implemented and which provides superior performance.

In future, ICOS intends that the partnership with Joyent will include the development by the distributor of its own cloud infrastructure, which will then be made available to channel partners.