Brief: OpenStack is Now Ready for Business

The open source cloud computing project OpenStack has come a long way since NASA and Rackspace launched it in 2010. Backed by leading technology infrastructure providers including Cisco, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Intel, and VMware, OpenStack underpins significant workloads at an increasingly diverse set of organizations, including BWM, CERN, Comcast, eBay, and Wal-Mart. For CIOs engaged in broader programs to win, serve, and retain customers — and refocus business technology (BT) spend — a planned and pragmatic rollout of OpenStack now demands serious consideration. This brief highlights lessons learned by OpenStack adopters, illustrating the technology’s role in driving and sustaining change as CIOs move to embrace the age of the customer.