Verizon is shutting down its Public Cloud offering and giving its users two months – until April 12 – to move their data. Their Public Cloud is the set of services that compete head to head withthe likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft Azure. Several years ago, Verizon had big ambitions for these services, but like other Telcos it had trouble keeping up with the massive investments necessary to stay competitive in the Public Cloud space. Verizon notified its customers last week of the change and gave them two months to move their data before it is deleted permanently.
In public, Verizon has been relatively quiet about the planned shutdown. A Verizon spokesperson told Fortune that the shutdown affected one of its services that accepts credit card payments. The full scope of the shutdown became known only when a customer tweeted the letter he had received from the company.
In any case, two months is not a lot of time to find a new service and move data, so many Verizon customers may be caught flat-footed by this announcement. If you are a current subscriber of Verizon’s Public Cloud services, you should be investigating your options now so that you don’t run the risk of losing any important data.