Rackspace VP of product Mark Interrante
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Last week web hosting provider Rackspace Hosting (www.rackspace.com) acquired cloud server management firm Cloudkick (www.cloudkick.com), adding to its continually expanding portfolio of cloud services.
The San Francisco-based startup acquired by Rackspace has grown significantly since it launched two years ago. As of the deal, it provided more than 1,500 businesses with a dashboard application for navigating complex cloud environments.
Cloudkick manages and monitors servers across multiple providers from a single dashboard, which lets customers manage a hybrid infrastructure, across both multi-tenant virtualized servers and dedicated hardware.
Rackspace will integrate the cloud management tool into its cloud computing and hybrid hosting portfolio. Rackspace recently launched its managed cloud, which links its cloud computing and traditional hosting products.
The acquisition will also improve Rackspace’s level of technical support by offering customers effective management tools to simplify the process.
In an email interview with the WHIR, Rackspace VP of product Mark Interrante discusses what the acquisition of Cloudkick means for Rackspace and how it will ultimately benefit its customers and the company.
WHIR: For how long has this acquisition been in the works?
Mark Interrante: Cloudkick has been a partner with Rackspace for a while now, but we have been discussing the acquisition for only a couple of months. We are thrilled to welcome Cloudkick to the Rackspace family today.
WHIR: Did Rackspace have other cloud server management companies in mind for acquisition or was it always CloudKick from the beginning?
MI: Cloudkick offers a truly unique and innovative service that caught our attention right away. In a short time, they established their position as one of the most advanced business-to-business focused start-ups in the cloud computing space and the system administrators tools they provide are recognized as best in the market. We knew that they would offer our customers something we couldn’t find anywhere else so it was a no brainer to approach Cloudkick with the acquisition offer.
WHIR: How will Rackspace integrate CloudKick into its current cloud offerings?
MI: Today, any Rackspace customer, or anyone managing servers for that matter, can easily add their servers to the Cloudkick dashboard and start to experience the magic of Cloudkick. In the coming months our toolsets will become more integrated with the Cloudkick toolset but for now they will be separate.
WHIR: What are the overall benefits this acquisition will bring to customers and to Rackspace?
MI: From the beginning, Cloudkick has been obsessed with making life easier for system administers as they deploy and manage infrastructure and applications on the cloud. And as we at Rackspace continue to help customers manage their move to the cloud, Cloudkick will play an important role in improving the Fanatical Support Rackspace already offers. Rackspace’s mission is to be recognized as one of the world’s great service companies and we believe Cloudkick aligns very well with this mission. We expect this acquisition to enable us to deliver even better support through superior management tools that will be available directly to customers and also to the Rackers, our employees, who serve them.
WHIR: Does Rackspace intend on offering CloudKick for free to existing customers or will it be a value-added service for purchase?
MI: In the coming months our toolsets will become more integrated including full integration into our managed service level so alerts and events automatically trigger incidents for your support team to resolve. As the timelines firm up on these advances, we will keep you posted on the developments and how they impact your service.
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