Why is On-Demand OpenStack Important for SMBs?

In this blog:

• Why Build a Low-Cost, On-Demand OpenStack Private Cloud?
• Why is it Important for SMBs to be a part of the OpenStack, Open Source Community?
• Can this help other organizations like Universities or Governments?
• Why is OpenStack not in more common use by SMBs or similar organizations?
• OpenMetal’s Open Source Commitment

Why Build a Low-Cost, On-Demand OpenStack Private Cloud?

I have been getting this question a bit, sometimes with enthusiasm and sometimes with skepticism. The skeptic will say something like “Are you trying to go up against AWS?” That is followed by, if a polite skeptic, “Is that wise?”

Update 10/19/2020 – OpenMetal Cloud powered by OpenStack pricing released! Provisioning beginning Dec 2nd. 
For sure it is an uphill battle to go against these mega cloud providers, no matter who you are. In our case, we are not a big company, we are right around 400 people here at InMotion. The big competitors have 10s of thousands of employees and billions of dollars. So why would we try to take this on?

Well, first, we are part of a much larger whole. The OpenStack community is huge and vibrant. The last release had over 1000 individual contributors. Many of those changes are from individuals but most changes are from staff within companies, small and large. Redhat, for example, has a business model that embraces open source as a fundamental part of who they are and how they generate business. I see companies like that as very positive for the overall continuity of the ecosystem. Smaller businesses, like Vexxhost, CityNetworks, or Virtuozzo contribute heavily as well and provide balance to a company like Redhat. However, before I cover where we fit into this ecosystem, let me digress a bit.

Why is it important for SMBs to be a part of the OpenStack open source community?

SMB’s technical teams, as an aggregate, are a massive number of potential users of OpenStack. Greater usage by SMBs will spur huge growth in use cases, deployments, and development resources for OpenStack. It is a massive, relatively untapped market that needs OpenStack to be more accessible.

SMBs are also where many, if not most, new technical people start their careers. Getting OpenStack in their hands early in their career lets us battle the nonstop public cloud marketing those new techies are getting.

Can this help other organizations like universities or governments?

Yes. The more accessible OpenStack becomes, the more it will automatically be at the table during early discussions of any organization. We are working on a complete guide for On-Demand OpenStack for Education and On-Demand OpenStack for Government and will link to this once complete.

Why is OpenStack Not in More Common Use by SMBs or Similar Organizations?

First, if you are not familiar with OpenStack, you might check out “What is OpenStack”. OpenStack has three major barriers for SMBs (and really all organizations, enterprises included). These three factors have put OpenStack private clouds out of reach for the vast majority of SMBs or organizations with similar constraints like smaller universities or mid-sized nonprofits:

OpenMetal’s Open Source Commitment

First, let me share a personal message. I got my start in this industry building from open source software and the mentality of being open and sharing. Originally, I was a Mechanical Engineer in the auto industry but after only a few years out of college, I realized my passion was being part of the Internet. I became a System Administrator/Developer/Entrepreneur. This may seem like a difficult change but it was straightforward because the technology that makes up the Internet is primarily open source software. I could just download, learn, and start selling things on it.

I attribute much of my own success, and OpenMetal’s, directly to open source. We respect that history and thus have ingrained the open-source philosophy and practice into the company. Over the years, we have become increasingly concerned with the consolidation of IT infrastructure to the mega public cloud companies.

It even now concerns many System Admins, that if consolidation continues to the public clouds, the System Admin job will fundamentally change and in many cases, disappear. In the world of System Administration/Systems Engineers, designing and running large cloud infrastructures is the highest level of complexity that requires the most experienced Admins. Without this “Infrastructure Architect” as a place to grow, the System Admin job becomes less complex as it loses a pinnacle role.

For many technical leaders, myself included, consolidating so much to so few companies is not healthy. Certainly not at the price of losing a great job type. We have also been concerned that OpenStack, the top open source cloud management system has not seen much growth in the small and medium businesses. It remains primarily a tool used by Enterprises or large hosting/cloud providers like ourselves.

How OpenMetal is Addressing OpenStack Barriers for SMBs

First, we have built a full hyper-converged On-Demand Private Cloud that starts with only three servers. It can be spun up in less than 45 seconds and used on a daily basis for under $20/day. It is fully production-ready, with the OpenStack core services plus services we recommend for efficient day 2 operations. 

The OpenMetal Engineering Schematic: