Why Would HP Buy Eucalyptus? Cloud Acquisition Rumors, and CMPs

Right off the heels of the HP buying Eucalyptus announcement we ponder out scenarios of why HP would do, different ways they could re-arrange their cloud portfolio (or not!), and try to figure out the logic of the acquisition. We also discuss rumors of CenturyLink wanting to buy Rackspace, the exec movements at Citrix in the cloud group, and start a discussion of cloud management platforms (CMPs).

With Brandon Whichard, Matt Ray, and Coté.

Show Notes

• HP buys Eucalyptus – what does it mean?!
• HP profile of Martin Mickos and Eucalyptus
• Eucalyptus’ announcement, with this a summary of intentions.
• From the OpenStack community surveys, it looks like OpenStack users value AWS compatibility a lot…which is Eucalyptus’ big value-prop.
• We discuss possible scenarios for why HP would want to buy Eucalyptus, starting with that AWS compatibility.
• Also in cloud news, CenturyLink rumored to buy Rackspace. We discuss the managed cloud and hosting business, in so much as any of us knows anything about those markets.
• The quandary of enterprise cloud: people want all the good of AWS, but want to build it and run it on their own…hrm…?
• How Amazon’s profitless business runs – “The question to ask isn’t whether Amazon is some profitless ponzi scheme, but whether you believe Bezos can capture the future. That, and how long are you willing to wait?”
• On The Three Year Anniversary-CloudStack Execs Take The Money And Run. Or Were They Pushed?
• More private equity land: Idera going private, bought by TA Associates. We discuss how systems management seems especially ripe for PE investments.
• Coté does an impromptu modeling out of the cloud management platform (CMP) space and the ~5 characteristics it has. We’ll have to save up for next time a detailed discuss of the landscape.

Recommendations

• Brandon: The Startup Podcast, episode 1, “How not to pitch a billionaire”
• Matt: Bedhead re-mastered, re-release. “It’s quit good.”
• Coté: CostCo chunk o’ turkey.