A screenshot from Cloud.com's website of the CloudStack dashboard
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(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — When The Rolling Stones released “Get Off of My Cloud” in 1965, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards sang that two was a crowd on a cloud. In 2011, it seems many disagree with that assertion, as earlier this week cloud technology provider Citrix (www.citrix.com) acquired open source cloud software developer Cloud.com (www.cloud.com).
Citrix believes the acquisition has cemented its position as a leader in infrastructure for the cloud provider market. The addition of Cloud.com has also substantially enhanced its portfolio of cloud solutions.
Known for its CloudStack product line, Cloud.com helps providers build scalable and efficient public clouds.
In a blog post on ZDNet, Larry Dignan notes one very desirable thing the acquisition includes: the Cloud.com URL.
With Cloud.com, Citrix’s line-up will include virtualization, networking tools and orchestration software. Toss in mobile and Web-based products like Citrix Receiver and GoToMeeting and it’s a strong line-up. As a bonus, Citrix gets a great URL.
A post on Talkin’ Cloud echoes that sentiment.
For service providers, Citrix has moving ever-closer to being a one-stop shop when it comes to the tools necessary for building a cloud. But more than that, it could potentially mean that the Cloud.com domain name will be available soon. Someone might want to look into that.
As a supporter of open source, Sameer Dholakia, general manager of Citrix’s new Cloud Platforms product group says the companies will remain supportive of OpenStack. A report by GigaOm says Citrix will ensure tight compatibility among OpenStack, Project Olympus software and CloudStack.
The whole goal, he said, is to create viable alternatives to clouds based on VMware’s proprietary vSphere and vCloud products, so that numerous products give customers more choice. Of course, it’s also a wise business move to buy Cloud.com, not only because it’s successful but also because it saves Citrix from relying too heavily on OpenStack for its cloud strategy. That space could get crowded, as we saw yesterday with the launch of Piston Cloud Computing, an OpenStack startup founded by the chief architect of NASA’s Nebula cloud.
Many view the acquisition as a direct attack at VMware, which announced its vSphere 5 cloud platform and infrastrucutre suite on Tuesday as well.
Aside from VMWare, a report by ReadWriteWeb says the acquisition could also be bad news for Eucalyptus.
This acquisition is particularly bad news for Eucalyptus, which…was once the hottest startup in this space. However, Eucalyptus could now be a startup target for other larger companies looking to challenge companies like Citrix, Microsoft and VMware.
A report by CloudSwitch says that with this acquisition, Citrix is in a good place to nurture the OpenStack community.
If Citrix remains committed to its stated direction of providing the software for clouds (rather than building a cloud themselves), they are in a great position to capitalize on OpenStack. Rackspace, on the other hand, has a more complicated opportunity with OpenStack. They created the idea and built the community, but they are limited by the fact that they are themselves a cloud provider, so it would be hard for them to sell and support OpenStack software to other cloud providers and vendors. That leaves the door open for someone else to step in and become the enterprise software vendor for OpenStack. Clearly Citrix has been targeting this, and the addition of Cloud.com adds the full software stack and knowhow for building and deploying a cloud.
A post on Enterprise Irregulars says Citrix has acquired a team that will be able to accelerate its cloud growth.
One thing is certain: Citrix has yet finished its cloud strategy over the years. Their CEO, Mark Templeton is extremely charismatic and along with the recently departed Simon Crosby can talk a good vision on cloud. Their presence in cloud, despite all that Xen-driven cloud, hasn’t been as much as it should be. Hopefully, the Cloud.com team (who seems to be taking a leadership role) can help accelerate that.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson writes full-time for the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto, and has been writing for the WHIR since September 2010. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
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