Why not OpenStack?
As I was wondering what subjects to cover in my blog, two areas sprung to mind; OpenStack or OpenStack, so at least it was an easy decision!
Conversations with our Enterprise and Public Sector customers are increasingly focused on the cost and time taken to provision their DC resources, resources which underpin business requirements and outcomes. They also need to control their spiralling costs, especially around software licenses associated with automation.
Many IT companies (including Cisco) have a comprehensive range of Cloud Systems Management and Infrastructure tools which fit the bill nicely when it comes to automation….but OpenStack is a bit different.
OpenStack has been a buzz word in the IT community for a number of years now and as a project it was typically quickly dismissed for several reasons. When I discuss OpenStack with people, they are very interested but very quickly raise the inevitable points “it’s too hard, I can’t get the skills and the cost….”.
If I’m honest, until recently I had to agree with them, but that’s now changed. Before we go into the changes, it’s probably worthwhile giving a little bit of background on OpenStack…
What is OpenStack ?
OpenStack is a set of software tools for building and managing cloud computing platforms for public and private clouds. Backed by some of the biggest companies in IT and hosting, as well as thousands of individual community members, many believe that OpenStack is the future of cloud computing. OpenStack is managed by the OpenStack Foundation
Why is OpenStack different?
OpenStack is community based so it is an open and scalable cloud operating system for building public or private clouds. It allows both large and small organisations the opportunity to avoid vendor lock in as it offers choice and flexibility, the community consist of some of the big IT names, as well as the wider developer community across the globe.
The Components of OpenStack?
You can choose to use all or some of the components of OpenStack to automate your DC resources. As an example, a storage focused DC project might not require the OpenStack Heat orchestration process.
There are currently 9 components of OpenStack that I am aware of (there are more), and due to the open nature of the project more components can be added.
What has changed?
Cisco has recognised and now fully addressed the inevitable objection I mentioned earlier “it’s too hard, I can’t get the skill and the cost….”
We are now offering an OpenStack as a Service (OaaS) operating model which addresses these objections. It also delivers effectively when compared it to an OpenStack Do It Yourself strategy or Vendor specific options.
Cisco Metapod is the basis of our OaaS operating model delivering a remotely engineered and operated private cloud solution – if you like or are thinking public cloud you will love this solution.
We don’t just drop the solution off and walk away. We take full responsibility for keeping our customers private cloud operational. We will monitor the environment, troubleshoot any hardware issues, deploy updates and implement any feature enhancements in conjunction with their IT departments. Total cost of ownership is also much lower than the cost incurred by most alternative solutions.
So to respond to the objection “it’s too hard, I can’t get the skills and the cost….” We will do the heavy lifting while you, the customer, enjoy the benefits of the platform delivering outcome based, business applications.
What’s not to like?
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