MainOne's data centre subsidiary, MDX-i, has announced the launch of a new cloud-based service offering with Microsoft.

The solution is built on Microsoft Azure's enterprise grade infrastructure and provides private computing environments to companies on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The partnership is targeting enterprise customers in West Africa, specifically in terms of access to computing resources such as storage, CPU, memory, security firewalls and network bandwidth, which is provisioned on a subscription basis.

According to a statement issued by MainOne, this is the first cloud offering MDX-i is launching together with Microsoft.

MDX-i will leverage its Tier III data centre in Lagos to assist companies in the deployment of private, public or hybrid clouds.

This ensures quick and agile provisioning of infrastructure for businesses and government agencies as required, thus improving their time to deliver on-demand applications and services, according to the company.

MDX-i's business development executive, Rob Lever said the new cloud platform is a scalable and cost effective alternative to dedicated computing resources deployed in-house by companies and includes managed virtual data centres, virtual private servers, and virtual LANs to assure customers of high availability.

"Businesses are beginning to embrace cloud services because it promises increased agility in addition to savings in OPEX and CAPEX. Our IaaS platform reduces complexity, interoperability, and security concerns of our customers. It provides them the benefit of leveraging our infrastructure, and the expertise of MDX-i and Microsoft, without their (sic) having to incur the substantial costs associated with deploying such solutions".

Kabelo Makwane, Microsoft Nigeria's managing director, said, "The Cloud OS Network is a worldwide group of select service providers that partner closely with Microsoft to offer customers hybrid cloud and Azure-enabled solutions. Uniquely combining expertise in Microsoft technology, customer requirements, and geographic specialisation, Cloud OS network members deliver the Microsoft Cloud Platform customised to your specific needs."

In August Funke Opeke, chief executive officer of MainOne, announced that the company's data centre had secured the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and ISO 27001:2013 certifications.

Opeke said the certifications consolidates the company's investment in critical infrastructure and processes to grow West Africa's Digital Economy. "We have continued to see an increase in the number of payment card operators, and many of these are our customers. Our ability to ensure security of their customer data is attested to by these certifications and ensures we provide an equivalent level of security as the best in-house bank data centres", she said.