You heard it on The VAR Guy first – OpenStack, the open source cloud computing platform initially pushed by RackSpace and NASA, is getting support for Microsoft Hyper-V thanks to integration efforts by Cloud.com. I had the chance to talk to Cloud.com CMO Peder Ulander about the integration. Here’s the scoop.

OpenStack itself is a platform designed to use open source software on standard hardware, turning any server or modular datacenter into a cloud platform, using virtualization to create and manage swarms of virtual machines.

Ulander says that the major value of adding Microsoft Hyper-V is to make it easier and more attractive for Microsoft customers and partners who are already familiar with Microsoft Server 2008 R2 to move to the open platform. OpenStack already supported Linux environments with the KVM, Xen, and VMware hypervisors, but adding Windows to the mix is an undeniable value-add.

So how did Cloud.com end up handling integration and support for Microsoft’s Hyper-V? Ulander says a potential Cloud.com customer actually facilitated that conversation by coming to the company looking for Hyper-V support in their CloudStack platform.

And now Cloud.com and OpenStack are both in a better place to serve customers burned out on closed, proprietary clouds – and Microsoft makes a rare contribution to the open source world, which is notable in itself.

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Weekly Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook;   Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.