At the recent Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco, a number of companies announced the formation of what is known as the Open Virtualization Alliance. These companies – among them IBM, HP, BMC, Red Hat and Eucalyptus – intend to use the Alliance to foster communication and provide education and advice for companies that are considering a move to the cloud or are looking to assist in the open source development of the cloud as a whole.
The Open Virtualization Alliance is coming into a world where several companies dominate the market and are attempting to convince consumers that they are the only option for their virtual needs. In response, open source projects like Open Stack have sprung up with the backing of companies like Rack Space as well as organizations such as NASA. Unfortunately, many private companies are still interested in trying to advocate for the proprietary and “us only” model, something that the Alliance feels has no place in the cloud.
While closed market systems that most providers and developers are used to using can encourage limited development of applications and proprietary operating systems, this type of development structure is less effective in the cloud, as the hallmark of this new technology is meant to be its openness and availability for all users. Now, despite the need for privately-developed software and server options, companies are looking for better performance, scalability and security, things that are not always provided in the current market.
Now, the Alliance is looking to ensure that they provide not only education for those companies that are thinking about a move to the cloud, but also give open source developers a voice and the ability to make the most of their ideas and move them forward.
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