Citrix is seeking to build out its cloud infrastructure using assets acquired from Cloud.com. The cloud-computing space remains incredibly dynamic.
Citrix has
finished its acquisition of Cloud.com, a provider of software-infrastructure
platforms for cloud providers.
Cloud.com's
products include the CloudStack product line, designed for the deployment and
management of cloud services. In theory, these assets will give Citrix a boost
in its cloud-deployment aims.
More than 30
percent of enterprises are deploying at least one cloud solution, according to
a recent survey by Visiongain. "This dynamic market is quickly maturing and
presenting a number of market opportunities for vendors and businesses alike,"
read the report issued by the IT analytics specialist. "The broad variety of
innovative solutions in software, platforms and infrastructure means that there
is a cloud service available for many different business demands."
Hence,
pressure on companies like Citrix to keep expanding their options and
capabilities, which in turn leads to acquisitions. Cloud.com products support
hypervisors such as Citrix XenServer and VMware vSphere, in addition to
open-source ones such as Xen. Citrix apparently intends to expand that support
to Microsoft's Hyper-V and System Center.
At the same
time, however, Citrix has very publicly dedicated itself to building out an
open cloud-computing portfolio, recently adding Project Olympus to its Citrix
NetScaler Cloud Gateway and Netscaler Cloud Bridge. Project Olympus will ship
later in 2011, and is the first commercialized version of the open-source cloud
operating system OpenStack. Public-cloud providers will have the ability to
leverage the platform to create customized features within a cloud
infrastructure, while corporations and other entities can use the same tools in
building out flexible private clouds.
"As the
industry moved into the Cloud Era," Mark Templeton, president and CEO of Citrix
Systems, wrote in a July 12 statement, "Citrix is committed to leading the
charge with powerful solutions that make the cloud more open, more secure and more
personal."
Citrix finds
itself facing some substantial competition in the space, as companies ranging
from Hewlett-Packard to Microsoft all rush to provide businesses with
cloud-computing solutions. For example, HP has added dual-bursting capabilities
to its CloudSystem platform, enabling clients to better manage, provision and
scale resources up and down through public or private clouds based on demand.
Meanwhile, behemoths like Oracle are offering a wide range of cloud-related
products and services with the specific aim of countering rivals with a
narrower focus.
Within that
context, it makes sense for Citrix to move with all due haste to build out its
capabilities, and to embrace an open-cloud paradigm that could appeal to a wide
variety of businesses. Competition in the cloud-computing space will only
increase as time goes on.
Follow Nicholas Kolakowski on Twitter
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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