The Return of OpenStack

OpenStack® burst onto the scene in 2010 when NASA and Rackspace Technology® launched the open-source collaborative project to power public and private clouds. Initially touted as an open alternative to proprietary platforms, OpenStack fell short of achieving widespread enterprise adoption in its early years, as public cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) gained prominence.

Today, however, as more organizations seek multi-cloud flexibility and hybrid solutions to supplement public cloud, they are rediscovering the benefits of private cloud — and reclaiming control of their infrastructure, and prioritizing data sovereignty by bringing more workloads back under their own management.

Rediscovering OpenStack benefits

Expanding demands for data sovereignty, privacy and cost control are driving customers to explore alternatives to public cloud hyperscalers for certain workloads. Additionally, the desire for custom AI models optimized for unique requirements is fueling interest in on-premises and hybrid options.

Supported by its ability to enable customized private clouds across on-premises and hosted infrastructure, OpenStack provides the open and interoperable platform organizations need to reduce public cloud dependency.

As a result, more than a decade after its debut, OpenStack is poised for an enterprise cloud resurgence. As a mature open-source infrastructure platform, it delivers two high-level advantages:

• Empowers users with the flexibility to build private clouds in their own data centers or at the edge.
• Lays the foundation needed to deploy containers and orchestrators, like Kubernetes.

Meeting companies’ specialized needs

At the core of today's data transformation is the need for agility. For example, organizations need a dynamic set of core services that provide the capabilities that empower essential platforms for modern applications, such as Kubernetes.

With AI and machine learning becoming ubiquitous, data is becoming more vital to success than ever before. OpenStack's agility in managing intricate workloads and orchestrating diverse computing resources has positioned it as a platform of choice when running accelerated applications with complex data requirements.

Across industries, companies recognize how OpenStack can satisfy their specialized needs, for example:

• Retailers want to avoid using public cloud competitors to host proprietary systems.
• Pharmaceutical firms require keeping sensitive patient data private.
• Banks can use it to maintain strict data sovereignty regulations.

Deploying flexible OpenStack private clouds

As an original OpenStack co-creator, Rackspace Technology is relaunching its OpenStack offerings to help more enterprises gain the benefits.

With more than a decade of expertise operating OpenStack at scale, Rackspace Technology stands ready to assist the growing number of companies now rediscovering the advantages of private cloud. We can help more enterprises realize OpenStack's benefits by deploying flexible OpenStack private clouds on-premises or even at the network edge.

With public cloud concerns on the rise, OpenStack's open-source flexibility and ability to run anywhere positions it as an infrastructure platform of choice for enterprises seeking cloud independence and control over their most vital workloads and data. 

Backed by a seasoned leader, the return of OpenStack is underway.

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