A still from a Rackspace video offering information on Cloud Builders
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider Rackspace (www.rackspace.com) announced on Tuesday that it has launched a new division, Cloud Builders, to provide service and support to businesses deploying clouds on the OpenStack platform (www.openstack.org) – an open-source cloud infrastructure platform developed in large part by Rackspace.
The company says the new service will extend its well-regarded support services outside its own data centers for the first time, providing training and certification, deployment services and ongoing support to any OpenStack deployment.
In an interview with the WHIR, VP of marketing and business development for Rackspace Cloud Builders, Mike Collier, says the model is similar to Red Hat’s offering of support for Linux, without the creation of a specific flavor of the software.
“Traditionally, companies that are making money on open source do it through things like training, certification and support,” he says. “And that’s exactly the case here. One thing that we’re not doing, that some companies do, is selling the software. We’re not creating a free version and then a paid version where you cripple the free version, and if you want the enterprise features you have to pay. That is another common model in open-source, but we’re not doing that at all.”
The new division, says Collier, was created in part through the recent acquisition of Anso Labs, an organization that was built to deliver that kind of outsourced support for cloud deployments, and played a significant role in helping to develop the Nebula cloud for NASA, much of the code for which was contributed to the OpenStack project, and formed much of its storage component.
“[Anso Labs is] going to be an integral part of the new division,” says Collier. “They’ve already joined the company, and they make up a good amount of the talent base we’ve already got [at Cloud Builders].”
Another big contribution to the Cloud Builders project will come from among the 50 or so partners that have committed to supporting the OpenStack community in the eight months since the software launched. Key partners include Dell, Citrix, Canonical and Equinix. Dell, in particular, is involved in delivering proof-of-concept to companies interested in deploying OpenStack and, according to the press release, is making it easier to create clouds with an OpenStack installer it has developed.
Collier says partners like Dell could be instrumental in supporting potential OpenStack users in the hosting service provider world who might shy away from directly enlisting the aid of a competitor such as Rackspace.
While service providers might be wary, Collier says the mission for Rackspace is driving adoption of the platform, rather than getting the company’s name out there, per se. In a world where a huge chunk of the cloud computing workload is deployed on Amazon’s cloud, driving adoption of the alternative has a lot to do with building a future where companies even have the opportunity to compete.
And given Rackspace’s focus on support, the company feels it is well positioned to compete in a market that is otherwise a level playing field, technology-wise.
“Our first goal is always to drive open stack adoption,” says Collier. “Obviously we’d like to make money where there’s an opportunity to do that, but our top focus is definitely driving adoption. At the end of the day, if all goes according to plan, the world has a lot of open stack public clouds and private clouds, that in itself is a big victory for Rackspace, because all those clouds are now compatible with Rackspace. If you think about our managed hosting business, everybody else has the same Linux that we do, they have the same Windows. Our ultimate differentiator is fanatical support, and we feel good when the technology playing field is level.”
Cloud Builders services will be available as more of a menu of services, rather than a deep consulting play, with the core services to include: training classes and certification testing; OpenStack cloud design and deployment help; and ongoing remote support and service, including monitoring.
Collier says the company isn’t planning to issue any detailed pricing at launch time, but he says it will likely be more affordable than working with some of the proprietary-software alternatives. And more importantly, the Cloud Builders offering will be designed to enable customers to create OpenStack clouds that can compete with Amazon’s price point.
“We’re all in the same situation,” he says, “which is we’re trying to compete with Amazon, frankly, and to fit into that cost model, and be competitive. We will enable people to be cost competitive with Amazon, with the operational expertise that Racksapce brings to the table.”
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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