Ericsson and Mirantis OpenStack Deal Sets a Precedent in the Open Cloud

The Swedish giant Ericsson stepped up its commitment to open source cloud platform software this week, striking a deal with Mirantis to use OpenStack as the base foundation for its telecommunications network, data centers and cloud services. Ericsson has been an investor in Mirantis, along with Red Hat and other companies. Its commitment to OpenStack sets an example for many large enterprises and technology companies expected to standardize on OpenStack this year. The deal is also good news for Mirantis.

As noted by Ray Le Maistre:

"Ericcson unveiled its Cloud System, comprising its Blade Cluster and Smart Services Router platforms, in early 2013, noting at the time that the hardware would be supported by its Cloud Execution Environment, which includes a KVM hypervisor and OpenStack cloud management software."

"It laid the ground for a deal with Mirantis by investing in the Mountain View, Calif.-based company in June 2013, when it joined Red Hat, SAP Ventures, and existing backer WestSummit Capital in a $10 million Series A round. Mirantis had previously banked an initial $10 million in December 2012 from Dell Ventures, Intel Capital, and WestSummit Capital."

The Wall Street Journal added:

"Ericsson declined to comment on the financial terms. But a person familiar with the matter said the software licensing deal extends for five years and has an estimated value of $30 million."

"Industry participants believe the deal with Mirantis is the largest to date for OpenStack, which has become a key weapon in the battle among cloud services that are taking over many company computing functions."

Ericsson will be standardizing on Mirantis' OpenStack distribution, and will likely count on the company's proven support and services surrounding the open cloud platform for years to come. 

Also this week, Mirantis expanded its global OpenStack training and certification programs. It has extended its training offerings to Europe, and now it will offer training in the Middle East as well.