Rackspace Expands Multi-Cloud Security To Microsoft Azure

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired) - Rackspace®(NYSE: RAX) today announced from Rackspace::Solve that Rackspace® Managed Security for Microsoft® Azure® is now available in early access. This means that companies using Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS)™, Rackspace Dedicated Hosting and Rackspace Managed VMware® Cloud can now benefit from the additional security protections provided by Rackspace Managed Security to detect and respond to security threats across leading cloud platforms.

With Rackspace Managed Security for Microsoft Azure, Rackspace customers leveraging the Aviator service level of Fanatical Support® for Azure can layer additional active security on their Microsoft Azure cloud platform to identify and respond to advanced cyber threats. Whereas most managed security service providers only notify customers about a breach, leaving it to the customer to respond, Rackspace Managed Security utilizes pre-approved actions to promptly remediate many security issues. This level of security strengthens customers' environments beyond the operational network and infrastructure security provided by most cloud providers. Rackspace Managed Security also complements the strategic planning, architectural guidance and 24x7x365 operational support available through Rackspace Fanatical Support for Azure.

"In today's cybersecurity landscape, organizations are no longer asking if they should have a security solution in place, but rather whether they should do it themselves or partner with a trusted managed security service provider," said Brannon Lacey, general manager of Rackspace Managed Security. "We are proud to extend this security solution to Azure, as it represents the continued growth of our Managed Security capabilities and aligns with the overall Rackspace mission to provide the best expertise and service across the world's leading clouds."

Rackspace launched Rackspace Managed Security in September 2015 to help provide greater business resiliency by helping protect customer data and respond to cyber attacks before they are able to impact customers' businesses. This approach lessens customer burden on budget and in-house expertise. Rackspace Managed Security provides host and network security, 24x7x365 monitoring and response from Rackspace experts in the Customer Security Operations Center (CSOC) as well as compliance assistance guidance to ease the burden of achieving and maintaining compliance.

According to a cloud security survey from ESG, 32 percent of enterprise cybersecurity and IT professionals said "their organization finds it challenging to monitor cloud-based network traffic patterns to detect anomalous/suspicious behavior. This could be related to monitoring weaknesses and/or skills deficiencies, but either way it makes organizations more vulnerable to cyber-attacks."1Furthermore, 33 percent of enterprise cybersecurity and IT professionals said "their organization finds it challenging to maintain regulatory compliance while using cloud infrastructure. This certainly restricts organizations' ability to maximize cloud computing business benefits."2

"With Rackspace Managed Security, Rackspace addresses and solves for security needs in organizations that use multiple cloud providers. This is particularly a challenge for organizations facing a cybersecurity skills shortage," said Dan Conde, analyst from ESG Research. "Top challenges for cloud security includes the ability to provision security controls, assessing the security status, monitoring workloads and maintaining regulatory compliance across clouds. As Rackspace expands its security capabilities across multiple cloud platforms, such as Microsoft Azure, they address the security needs and improves the velocity for on-boarding to a multi-cloud world."

Rackspace Managed Security for Microsoft Azure is currently in early access in all regions supported by Fanatical Support for Azure including the US, UK and Australia. To learn more about Rackspace Managed Security for Azure, visit https://www.rackspace.com/en-us/security or read the post on the Rackspace Blog. To learn more about Fanatical Support for Azure, visit https://www.rackspace.com/en-us/microsoft/managed-azure-cloud.

1 Source: ESG Blog, Cloud security challenges, April 2016

2 Source: ESG Blog, Cloud security challenges, April 2016

About Rackspace

Rackspace (NYSE: RAX), the #1 managed cloud company, helps businesses tap the power of cloud computing without the complexity and cost of managing it on their own. Rackspace engineers deliver specialized expertise, easy-to-use tools, and Fanatical Support® for leading technologies developed by AWS, Google, Microsoft, OpenStack, VMware and others. The company serves customers in 120 countries, including more than half of the FORTUNE 100. Rackspace was named a leader in the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Enabled Managed Hosting, and has been honored by Fortune, Forbes, and others as one of the best companies to work for. Learn more at www.rackspace.com.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of Rackspace Hosting could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any statements concerning expected development, performance or market acceptance associated with Rackspace Managed Security for Microsoft Azure; anticipated operational and financial benefits from Rackspace Managed Security for Microsoft Azure; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions including the possibility that expected benefits from Rackspace Managed Security for Microsoft Azure may not materialize because this product is not generally accepted in the marketplace, which could occur due to certain factors including (i) a failure to market the product cost effectively, differentiate the product from competitive products or communicate differentiations effectively, (ii) the reliability, quality or compatibility associated with the product, (iii) changes in technology which adversely effect the product's benefit, (iv) slowdowns in the general economy or technology industry that impact consumer spending habits, (v) internal strategy decisions that impact the product, and (vi) other risks that are described in Rackspace Hosting's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 2016 filed with the SEC on August 9, 2016. Except as required by law, Rackspace Hosting assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

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Media Contact:
Monica Jacob
210-312-6745
monica.jacob@rackspace.com