For nearly six years rPath has been automating IT. Now, the North Carolina-based company has launched rPath X6 — a solution to deploy and maintian OS/Middleware platforms and complete application stacks. rPath says it’s a new way for the company to help its clients transition to a cloud-based network while still offering a physical environment option. Here’s why.

“Many clients are looking to cloud in the future but are completely behind firewall right now,” said rPath Director of Product Management Shawn Edmondson. Check out the screen shot below to get an idea of how the new service actually works.

rPath-Screenshot2-HI

rPath has extensive data center experience. The company was launched by Erik Troan, a former Red Hat vice president. rPath Chairman Tim Buckley also served as COO of Red Hat.

rPath describes the new platform as “an IT-as-a-service platform for the next-generation data center that automates the delivery and management of software systems across physical, virtual and cloud environments.”  MSPs can create a visual control center to manage changes to their customers’ stacks and control software and configurations.

“We’re targeting MSP’s, Fortune 1000 companies and traditional hosting providers that are looking to become cloud members on their own right, ” said Chief Marketing Officer Jake Sorofman. During a product product demonstration, I found the navigation intuitive and it seemed easy to understand how the different data stacks are managed.

Still, I realize there are multiple tools for managing public and private clouds. We’ll be watching to see if rPath carves out a niche for itself with MSPs.

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