OpenStack: Cloud Computing Answer for Dell, HP and IBM Resellers?
The cloud computing strategies at Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM have a common thread. It’s called OpenStack — the open source cloud platform. The VAR Guy therefore asks an obvious question: Is OpenStack a path forward for hardware resellers that are seeking to develop public and private cloud services strategies? Hmmm…
First, here’s a bunch of background. Within the next two months or less, Hewlett-Packard is expected to unveil the HP Cloud — which will compete with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft’s Windows Azure. Meanwhile, IBM quietly in joined the OpenStack effort in February 2012, though no major announcement was made. And Dell has been an OpenStack proponent since 2010.
Now here’s the twist: Thousands of Dell, HP and IBM resellers — especially server resellers — have yet to master recurring revenue business models. Thousands more are still sorting out their public and private cloud strategies. That reality was in the spotlight last week, during an HP-Axcient cloud road show in New York, where roughly 100 VARs will trying to understand where cloud storage potentially fit into their short-list of business opportunities.
For those server and hardware resellers, OpenStack could provide a two-part springboard into cloud computing. For starters, many server makers are starting to promote OpenStack as an ideal platform for building private clouds. Moreover, a growing number of cloud services providers — most notably Rackspace and the HP Cloud — are adhering to OpenStack as part pf their public cloud strategies.
The lesson for hardware resellers: In theory, you’ll be able to move your customers’ applications seamlessly between private and public clouds — assuming the clouds are built atop OpenStack. That potential reality could allow server resellers to continue generating IT project revenue from on-premises and co-location deals, and perhaps even recurring revenues by working with OpenStack-compliant cloud services providers.
Of course, The VAR Guy is getting a bit ahead of himself. IBM hasn’t said much about its OpenStack support just yet. And the HP Cloud, leveraging OpenStack, has yet to be officially unveiled. Of the major server makers, Dell has the most complete OpenStack story so far. But even there, The VAR Guy hasn’t heard from any Dell partners that are building private clouds using OpenStack.
Still, The VAR Guy has a hunch that OpenStack will catch on with hardware resellers — especially those that are seeking an open, viable way to build private clouds while potentially countering Amazon Web Services in the public cloud.
OpenStack may be the cloud computing answer for Dell, HP and IBM resellers, but when it comes to building a private cloud – not so much – at least not yet. In addition to having to build secure images, lock down your instances, and manage your data, you also have to secure the entire infrastructure it runs on. Running a private cloud does not resolve the security issues associated with public providers and just because your cloud is behind your firewall doesn’t mean security issues diminish. With a private cloud you will be responsible for securing everything, including the physical hardware. This can be truly difficult using a fledgling open source platform like OpenStack, which is barely a year old. Touting OpenStack as an ideal platform for building private clouds may be a bit premature.
Ms. Lucia,
You state above that “Touting OpenStack as an ideal platform for building private clouds may be a bit premature.”
“Ideal” is, perhaps, not a word that can be accurately applied to any of the works of humankind. We are but mortal, after all — both flawed and fallible — and our works share these flaws. In this sense, I too would hesitate to call OpenStack “ideal.”
However, in a very real and practical sense, I submit that OpenStack is indeed as “ideal” a solution as one can find today for private cloud computing, if one values open source, open governance, broad community support, an ever-widening ecosystem, and a rapid trajectory of improvement in reliability and feature-set.
Your comment also mentions security. Security will always be an issue in cloud computing, as it is in every other aspect of human activity. That is why, to address this issue, OpenStack has added its “Keystone” authentication/authorization component to OpenStack’s core. I will be the first to admit that Keystone is not “ideal” in the larger sense, but as a practical matter, OpenStack now deals with security issues well enough for Rackspace to base its (enormous) public cloud operations entirely on OpenStack (including Keystone). A public cloud must, by its very nature, meet a higher standard of security than a private cloud, and so I submit that this is quite a strong endorsement of OpenStack’s security. So is the choice — by Sony, MercadoLibre, NASA, and many others — to use
While I do *not* suggest that OpenStack is “ideal,” I *do* suggest (to paraphrase Voltaire) that OpenStack is “the best of all *possible* private cloud computing platforms” and hence the safest bet available to IT decision-makers today.
Respectfully,
Jim Plamondon
Director, Developer Relations
Rackspace
“So is the choice — by Sony, MercadoLibre, NASA, and many others — to use OpenStack to run their private clouds TODAY.” I apologize for omitting the end of this sentence in my previous comment.
The VAR Guy appreciates the healthy chatter about OpenStack. Plenty of vendors have lined up to support OpenStack. It was even mentioned during an EVault cloud storage meeting with partners in New York yesterday (yes, The VAR Guy crashed the gathering). But ultimately it would be good to see more cloud services providers talking about OpenStack…
-TVG
Mr. VAR Guy,
You wrote that “ultimately it would be good to see more cloud services providers talking about OpenStack.”
I agree! The more, the merrier! 🙂
But I do wonder — how many “more” are you looking for?
– SoftLayer: http://blog.softlayer.com/2012/softlayer-openstack-swift-softlayer-object-storage
– ATamp;T: http://networkingexchangeblog.att.com/enterprise-business/openstack-and-cloud-standards
– Internap, KT (Korea Telecom), UCSD, Wikimedia: http://www.buildcloudstorage.com/2012/02/openstack-swifts-new-wins-at-hp.html
…and of course VC money is flowing like water into OpenStack-based startups.
With the OpenStack Design Summit amp; Conference only weeks away, it seems likely that other potential OpenStack supporters could be hoarding their announcements until that event.
Stay tuned! 🙂
Jim Plamondon
Director, Developer Relations
Rackspace
Jim,
The VAR Guy appreciates you coming back and sharing those links. Yes, OpenStack has some service provider backing. But generally speaking, it seems like most OpenStack backers are IT vendors, correct? Just a hunch.
Thanks again for the chatter. Important topic going forward.
-TVG