OpenStack Training, Funding: Cloud Platform Still Accelerating

Written by samdizzy
July 10, 2013

For OpenStack to succeed on public and private clouds, companies like Mirantis, Rackspace and eNovance will need to train thousands of industry professionals and consultants. Can they do it?

OpenStack, the open source cloud platform, continues to attract investment dollars. But where are all the trained professionals (cloud integrators, consultants, VARs and MSPs) who understand how to design and deploy OpenStack for public or private cloud use? Fortunately, Talkin’ Cloud is seeing some anecdotal progress.

Mirantis, a top OpenStack consulting company, is running training boot camps in North America, Europe and Asia over the next few months. While I don’t know if the boot camps are high quality I can say this: Mirantis has attracted investment dollars from such companies as Ericcson, Red Hat (RHT) and SAP.

I believe Mirantis has also consulted on OpenStack projects for such companies as Cisco Systems (CSCO). Moreover, a Mirantis Cloud Partner Program looks pricing and a tool called FUEL could allow customers to more easily manage OpenStack configurations.

All that said, I think the OpenStack industry still needs more training resources beyond companies like Mirantis and Rackspace (RAX). And don’t forget, even industry leaders like Rackspace concede OpenStack won’t generate substantial revenue dollars in the current year — though thought leadership around the technology could drive related revenue wins.

Money Matters

Meanwhile, investment dollars continue to flow into the OpenStack industry. The latest example: eNovance, which focuses on multi-cloud management, has raised $CDN 8.2 million from venture capitalists.

The company will use the money to:

Fund team growth;
Expand R&D investments in open source technology;
Push deeper into US and Asian markets; and
Make targeted strategic acquisitions.

eNovance claims to have nearly 200 customers — including Ray-Ban, Publicis, Safran, OnMobile and Louis Vuitton in North America.

Skeptical Eye

I concede: The OpenStack hype wave has become overwhelming. To fill the void between (A) technology development and (C) actual customer deployments, the industry will need (B) more trained and certified professionals.

Hopefully, examples from Mirantis and Rackspace will set the stage for even more training initiatives.