EMC Sees OpenStack As Much Like Linux

It seems that nearly every tech titan under the sun is throwing its support at OpenStack. EMC is the latest giant to do so, now that it is an official, corporate-level sponsor of OpenStack. Since it owns most of VMware, when VMware recently joined OpenStack it became obvious that EMC would become a sponsor, too. In commenting on the arrangement, EMC officials are likening OpenStack development to Linux development. That's an apt analogy, and it also tells us how important support and proper documentation and training are going to become in the future of OpenStack.

OpenStack, of course, has its own foundation, and is backed by a huge laundry list of powerful companies. That means that, unlike Linux, it will have unified development and marketing efforts going on with a single, coordinating body overseeing many efforts. EMC's Global Marketing CTO Chuck Hollis has likened OpenStack to Linux in a NetworkWorld story:

"Much like Linux has matured into a serious enterprise operating environment, OpenStack is visibly on much the same trajectory. And the OpenStack Foundation is the key industry nexus point for the evolution of a growing number of different-flavored distributions and editions."

 Indeed, we can draw a lot of parallels between OpenStack and Linux, and one of them is that just as many enterprises have sought out the best supported forms of Linux (Red Hat and SUSE come to mind), enterprises will also want top-notch support for OpenStack deployments. 

EMC and VMware are very experienced at supporting customers in the cloud, and Red Hat is no slouch at support either. That's why, among the throngs of tech companies backing OpenStack, these players may be the ones to take most seriously.

Meanwhile, there are even some reports emerging about concerns over too much corporate involvement with OpenStack. That kind of comment has been made about Linux, too.