Drifty was part of this spring’s TechStars 2013 class out of Geekdom right here in San Antonio. This week we’ll highlight not one, but two awesome apps by Drifty as part of our Must Have App series. I recently sat down with founders Ben Sperry and Max Lynch to learn more about Drifty and the cloud technology behind the apps.

Clean, Functional Websites And Apps

The first app, called Codiqa, is a drag-and-drop interface-building tool for creating mobile websites and apps with jQuery Mobile. Codiqa exports production-ready HTML5 of whatever a user creates, saving them the time and effort it normally takes to do it by hand, and allowing them to skip the wireframing step altogether.

Jetstrap, the second app by Drifty, is similar, but focuses on empowering users to create responsive desktop websites with the popular HTML5 framework, Twitter Bootstrap. After drag-and-dropping a Bootstrap design, users can also export clean HTML5 of anything they build.

Codiqa and Jetstrap are the tools you’ve been coveting for quick, easy to create mobile sites and apps in the cloud.

The Cloud Behind The App

Both tools are essentially powerful Javascript/HTML/CSS applications that interact with servers through a REST API. Drifty developed the client-side and the backend separately, which makes it easy to plug the technology into different environments (such as a desktop app, for example). On the backend the apps use Python and CoffeeScript in the browser.

Friends Become Entrepreneurs

Max and Ben began working on the idea for Codiqa back in the summer of 2011. At the time, both were still working full-time jobs, like many new entrepreneurs, and spending afternoons and nights building the beta version of the tool. They created a landing page to capture leads and contact info to see if there was a need for these tools. “As it turned out, there were a lot of people interested in what we were building, and by the time we launched our private beta in January 2012, we had over 1,000 people signed up,” according to Sperry.

Codiqa (click to enlarge):

Sperry commented that early adopters offered an immense amount of feedback and support during the private beta. The two hustled to fix a long list of bugs, and to add some much needed features before releasing the product for everyone. In February 2012, Codiqa launched publicly, and gained over 10,000 users in the first month when jQuery Mobile spotlighted a free version of the tool on its homepage.

Since then, the two have grown the user-base and profits to the point where they no longer needed full-time jobs, and in August 2012 they became full on entrepreneurs with the launch of their second cloud product, Jetstrap.

Jetstrap (click to enlarge):

Web Development Made Easy

A person looking to build a mobile app or website can sign up for one of the tools and start building an idea with the easy drag-and-drop interface. Both apps come with the standard mobile and desktop component features, such as buttons, navbars, checkboxes, etc., which can be added and reordered with ease. When a user has a design built the way they want it, they can simply export the clean, standards compliant HTML5 file that’s ready to go live. Drifty’s products also have a live HTML/CSS/JS editor for people who wish to customize their apps even further within the tool.

“We’ve built innovative drag-and-drop tech and real-time HTML editing that updates your interface as you type, making it easy to pick your desired level of control: drag-and-drop for fast layouts, and HTML editing for small details,” said Sperry.

The next time you need to mock up a site or develop a mobile app, Drifty tools will help you take your vision to reality; Drifty works to make web development easy with Codiqa and Jetstrap.

Check back each week as we highlight a new Must Have App. If you missed last week, take a look at our previous Must Have App: drchrono.

If you’re a startup running on Rackspace and would like to be part of this series, let us know and we’ll set up a time to talk and learn more about your awesome app.

If you don’t have the answers to these questions, then mark your calendars.

Over the next few weeks, we’re bringing you a series of free webinars to help you drive innovation and improve your business’ cloud strategy. Join us in lively and engaged discussions with our best from Rackspace and your peers in the industry, including Rackspace CIO Steve Mills and Rackspace CFO Karl Pichler.

Here’s a schedule of what’s to come:

Tuesday, May 21, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CST
The Shift of the C-level in a Cloud World      
Speakers: Rackspace CMO Suaad Sait, Rackspace CIO Steve Mills, Rackspace CFO Karl Pichler and Rackspace Vice President of Enterprise Cloud Solutions Lisa Larson

Wednesday, May 22, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CST
Be Resilient and Ready with Rackspace
Speaker: Rackspace Enterprise Cloud Strategist Paul Croteau

Tuesday, June 4, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CST
Building Bridges with Hybrid Cloud
Speaker: Rackspace Cloud Strategist Wayne Walls

Wednesday, June 5, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CST
Understanding Cloud Block Storage: Performance, Options and Use Cases
Speaker: Rackspace Product Director J. R. Arredondo

Register now, because spots fill up quickly. We hope to see you there.

The new features include:

API-Only:

• Container Quotas
• TempURL File Name Overrides
• Bulk Operations (Delete & Auto-Expand Archive)
• Static Large Object support

Now in Control Panel:

• Multiple File Upload
• Editing Headers

All of these features are now available in both the U.S. and U.K. regions.

To avoid the risk of getting into TL;DR territory; let’s take a high-level look at how each new feature works. I’ll follow-up with subsequent posts in coming weeks that dig deeper into how each new feature works along with specific API details.

Here’s what’s new:

Container Quotas

You can now set simple quotas on your containers by setting the X-Container-Meta-Quota-Bytes and X-Container-Meta-Quota-Count headers in your container metadata. This can be useful for administrators who want to put limits on containers used by non-admin users (users who cannot modify container metadata). The X-Container-Meta-Quota-Bytes header is used to limit the maximum size of a container, in bytes. The X-Container-Meta-Quota-Count header is used to set the maximum object count of the container.

TempURL File Name Overrides

With the new TempURL File Name Override feature, you can specify a “filename” query parameter to override a TempURL’s Content-Disposition header in order to instruct their browser to save a TempURL file with a specific name. This is done by appending &filename=my_file_name to the end of a TempURL.

Bulk Operations (Delete and Archive Auto Extraction)

Two new bulk operations are now available: delete and archive auto extractions. You can upload and auto-extract tar archives upon PUT request to your Cloud Files account. This is done using the query parameter ?extract-archive=format specifying the format of archive file. Accepted formats are tar, tar.gz, and tar.bz2. Root directories in the archive will be converted to containers if uploaded at the account level, or mapped to pseudo-directory names if uploaded into existing containers.

Static Large Object Support (SLO)

Static Large Object Support (SLO) is very similar to Dynamic Large Object (DLO) support in that it allows you to upload many objects concurrently and download them afterwards as a single object. It is different than DLO in that it does not rely on eventually consistent container listings to do so. Instead, a user-defined manifest of the object segments is used to help guarantee that every segment in the manifest exists and has matched the specifications. If everything does match, you will receive a 2xx response and the SLO object is ready for downloading. This can improve consistency when uploading multiple segments concurrently and subsequently downloading the resulting large object a short time after.

Multiple File Upload

You can now use the Control Panel to select and upload multiple files through one Upload Files operation.

From your container, select the Upload Files operation and the click the Choose Files button.

Select the multiple files you want to upload to your container.

After you have selected them for upload, notice that the number of files selected is shown next to the Choose Files button. Now select the Upload File button.

At this point your files will be uploaded into your Cloud Files account. Once the operation has completed, the Control Panel will show the updated contents of your container.

Editing Object Headers

You can now also use the Control Panel to modify some of the most common HTTP object headers including:

• Access-Control-Allow-Credentials
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods
• Access-Control-Allow-Origin
• Access-Control-Expose-Headers
• Access-Control-Max-Age
• Access-Control-Request-Headers
• Access-Control-Request-Method
• Origin
• Content-Encoding
• Content-Disposition

To edit object headers, go to the cogwheel next to your object and select Edit Headers from the drop down.

Select the header you wish to set along with its value and click the plus sign to add:

You will see any custom headers that have been set when you select the View File Info dropdown from your object’s cogwheel. Reselecting Edit Headers from the cogwheel drop down will allow you to set any additional headers or modify existing ones that you had previously configured.

For additional information on setting object headers or details on any other Cloud Files features, please refer to the Cloud Files API Developer guide.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts with details on how to access these new features through the API with command-line examples using cURL.

If you have additional questions, please feel free to ask them here, contact our Fanatical Support Team or email me directly at jose.malacara@rackspace.com.

Be sure to subscribe to our product and development blog for future product updates and announcements.

For a deeper look at some of these features, head over to the Rackspace DevOps Blog.

We also offer insight into how to take advantage of horizontal scaling in the cloud. By integrating your app with the open cloud API, it can now control the hosting infrastructure to spin up and down servers as needed. And since our cloud is open, you never have to worry about your app getting locked in.

Up your game with Rackspace – we got your back.

An Army Is Forming To Battle Patent Trolls
Last week, our fight against patent trolls took a big step forward, as a “big tent” meeting hosted by the Coalition for Patent Fairness swelled into a standing-room only affair featuring a number of high profile agencies eager to join the battle.

We’re Investing In Cloudant For NoSQL DBaaS
At Rackspace, our goal is to provide developers the best tool for the job. This week, we fortified our partnership with Cloudant, a NoSQL DBaaS provider that further enables us to give developers choice in which database flavor they use on the Rackspace Cloud.

Rackspace Developer Support: Fanatical Support For Your Code
This week we launched Rackspace Developer Support, an extension of our Fanatical Support specifically for developers. Rackspace Developer Support marks the first time we will officially support your application code.

Drchrono Is A Must Have App
In this week’s installment of Must Have App, we looked at drchrono, an app that streamlines the patient-caregiver experience. From electronic health records to medical billing and patient profiles, drchrono provides heath professionals and patients an all-in-one solution.

Woz On Startups
We concluded our Rackspace On Startups video series with insights from Apple Co-Founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak, who talked about Apple’s humble beginnings and offered advice to startups.

New Functionality In Cloud Servers
This week, we highlighted new capabilities in Cloud Servers: the ability to provision additional IPv4 addresses on Cloud Servers in the next generation Rackspace Cloud, and the ability to attach and detach networks from a live Cloud Server.

Check Out Our Guide To Business Email
After 13 years of offering business-grade email hosting and helping millions of customers navigate business email choices, we’ve compiled the Business Email 101 Guide, an eight-step guide to address the most common variables involved in the business email choice.

CA World 2013 Shines Spotlight On Cloud Evolution
At CA World 2013 in Las Vegas last month, we had the opportunity to share industry insight from our cloud customers and highlight our approach to helping customers with their journeys to the cloud. Here are some key takeaways from the event.

This powerful new feature makes it easier to deploy applications with greater flexibility. You can add or remove interfaces from your servers at any time without having to tinker with the server or worrying about getting the networking right the first time.

At this time, you can use either the python-novaclient or the Rackspace API for attaching/detaching a network to/from an operational Cloud Server. We are working to support this operation using the Rackspace Control Panel at this time and hope to offer this capability shortly.

In order to use this feature using the python-novaclient, you first have to install the Cloud Networks virtual interface extension as specified in the below URL:
http://docs.rackspace.com/servers/api/v2/cn-gettingstarted/content/section_gs_install_vir_interface.html

The API operations to attach and detach interfaces are listed here:
http://docs.rackspace.com/servers/api/v2/cn-devguide/content/api_virt_interfaces.html

We would like to hear more about other networking features you’d like to see. We look forward to helping you deploy the next generation of applications on the Rackspace open cloud!

“Plutora was conceived from real world experience while dealing with the non-existent Enterprise IT Release Management software problem,” explains Sean Hamawi, director and co-founder of Plutora. “Our experiences as executives delivering complex systems within large financial services institutions over the last five years and with no other direct product offerings meant this market was ripe for disruption.”

Hamawi and his colleagues saw a need for a simple and transparent way to manage the flow of features from business stakeholders through various IT environments, ultimately culminating in a release to customers. The IT landscape was also becoming more complex through multi-sourcing arrangements, multiple vendor involvement, globally distributed teams and a move to cloud-based services. Passionate about building a better solution, the executive-assembled team at Plutora left their corporate roles to build the startup. Plutora, which is a member of the Rackspace Startup Program, is a privately-held company since 2012.

“We started out doing this via various spreadsheets, intranets and extranets, which were updated manually,” says Hamawi. “Maintaining these disparate sources just wasn’t working and was eventually abandoned. This often resulted in costly delays and failed releases. Every other tool we explored didn’t do what we needed or was bloated with features we didn’t need. So, we built the Plutora software and application platform from the ground up on Rackspace. We came to the conclusion that Rackspace was the leader in cloud hosting solutions. We felt that the flexibility, scalability and level of control that Rackspace offers was the best cloud solution for Plutora and our customers”

Looking ahead, Hamawi says, Plutora will focus on growth.

“At Plutora we are building software using deep subject matter knowledge of the problems we are solving. We are passionate about these problems and our solution as we have lived through the pain of bad process and lost efficiencies,” concludes Hamawi. “User feedback has validated our passion through stellar product feedback, and when your users are telling you that you’re onto a ‘winner’ you know all that hard work will pay off. This is going to be a busy year for the team at Plutora. Our core focus will be on customer acquisition, product marketing, product development and hiring talented people.”

The Rackspace Startup Program continues to provide more and more startups with a world class open cloud computing platform upon which to build their businesses. Contact the Space Cowboys to find out how you can get the rocket fuel to launch your startup.

At Rackspace we have long-standing relationship with CA Technologies. It has grown considerably over the last few years. That was evidenced by our large presence during CA World 2013. It started when we engaged a variety of CA teams early on to help with the relaunch of our Critical Application Services in August 2012. Since then, we have participated in a variety of joint industry events, webinars and panel discussions; produced white papers; and most recently Rackspace CTO John Engates was featured in the opening keynote at CA World.

And along the way, we picked up some interesting insight from CA customers, partners and CA World attendees on their cloud adoption and perceptions:

Key Takeaways:

1. Cloud is a business model that is still emerging.
   While many enterprise organizations have piloted individual cloud services or have pockets of innovation, many are still in early stages of evaluating technologies. Startups are disrupting traditional IT, but enterprises are smart to let the market consolidate around well-established, trusted services providers with a commitment to a customer’s success.
2. Public, Private, Hybrid Cloud – Which do I choose?
   New projects can easily start in the cloud. Traditional IT workloads need to been evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We do this with our customers through our Advisory Services. Cloud customers must work with vendors that provide choice, flexibility and transparency as part of their core competencies. The Rackspace Hybrid Cloud blends the best of all worlds – public clouds, private clouds and dedicated servers – to offer infrastructure that is the best fit for a customer’s specific workload or applications.
3. Getting started is half the battle.
   Do something today. Do anything that is cloud-related –  attend a webcast, read a case study or blog or follow industry leaders on LinkedIn and Twitter. Ideas and insight come from a variety of sources and people; find something and reimagine it in your organization.

To help get you started and to get up to speed with the hot topics at CA World 2013, check out these links:

• Keynote – Peter Griffiths, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Solutions & Technology Group, CA and John Engates, CTO, Rackspace participating in the executive round table on DevOps and cloud innovation.
• Replay:  Steve Mills, Rackspace CIO and CA Cloud Luminary, discusses Rackspace’s journey to the cloud and Critical Application Services.
• Replay:  Robert Scoble, Rackspace Chief Startup Liaison Officer and CA Cloud Luminary, discusses startups, innovation and Google Glass.
• Whitepaper:  Managing Complex Environments (for Business Leaders)
• Whitepaper:  When 99.999 is Not Enough (for IT Professionals)
• News: CA Technologies Enhances CA Global Partner Program to Support Evolving Business Models
• Stay tuned: Look for a Rackspace feature in the July edition of Smart Enterprise magazine

As one of the early cloud adopters, and someone who has worked hard to promote what cloud can bring to businesses, I was looking to join a vendor where I could leverage cloud concepts to truly make a difference in the world. The more I looked, the more Rackspace seemed like the right place to be.

The first thing that stood out to me was the company’s core values:

• Treating Rackers Like Friends and Family
• Passion For Our Work
• Committed To Greatness
• Full Disclosure & Transparency
• Results First – Substance Over Flash
• Fanatical Support In All We Do

These formed a picture for me of an organization that was striving to really make a difference. The term that stood out most was the word “Greatness,” a value that I personally believe in very strongly. Companies that are committed to greatness are alive, vibrant and focused on growth.

Rackspace is best known for its Fanatical Support. I have to admit that before I experienced this commitment to great customer service, I thought it was just marketing hype. I was first exposed to Fanatical Support when Altium acquired a company and brought in a new head of IT who had utilized Rackspace’s Fanatical Support. His face was radiant as he described the fact that Rackspace knew about problems on his servers before he did. I was still pretty skeptical, but impressed with the positioning. I thought if a company can pull this off, it would make them really successful. I have always believed in providing phenomenal support, so I was impressed in an intellectual way.

Then I joined Rackspace. And what I found inside shocked me: here was a company that had inculcated the very idea of going above and beyond into the core of its being. I went to the London office for my induction program – five days of aligning new Rackers (Rackspace employees are called Rackers) to the fundamental principles that drive the business. There are over 1,000 staff in the London office and I must have been approached half a dozen times by people asking me, “You seem lost – what can I do to help you?” This was no fake offer – each time this happened I was helped all the way to my objective, and the Rackers always seemed eager to help.

Everything the company does drives this Fanatical Support. The company uses Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure the likelihood customers will refer others. But even the induction program had us rookies being asked how likely we would be to recommend each of the presenters to our colleagues or friends. The presenters, we learned, were vying for a coveted internal trophy. I have never seen such engaging and creative presentations, all designed to prepare us to be effective in the Rackspace culture.

The company’s mission is to be recognized as one of the world’s greatest service companies. And it shows.

Be sure to tune in next week for part two of Alan’s two-part series on why he joined Rackspace, which focuses on the products and the strategy.

Millions of businesses have already made the decision to outsource this non-revenue generating, time- and capital-intensive application. For most, making the decision is a no-brainer. Not having to deal with servers, software, spam/virus threats and storage creates more time to do the innovative IT projects that move the needle. However, the larger and more deeply entwined email is in your business, the more complicated the decision to outsource becomes. You must determine the optimal type of hosting, product feature set and best-fit provider.

Making the wrong choice can be disastrous. Only business-grade email offers the security and feature set to meet the demands of business users. Free and consumer-level email can expose your communications and customer data to prying eyes or email-borne threats. Not taking the time to thoroughly evaluate email providers can also leave you with a service full of restrictions that inhibit your ability to conduct business. For example, support for attachment sizes is too small, making it impossible to easily send large contracts or graphics files; or insufficient inbox storage that needs constant maintenance to avoid filling up.

After 13 years of offering business-grade email hosting and helping millions of customers navigate business email choices, we’ve compiled a guide to address the most common variables involved in the business email choice.

The Business Email 101 Guide is broken into eight steps covering:

• Deciding between hosted and in house, with TCO comparisons
• Choosing between free and business-grade email
• Defining requirements
• Choosing an email hosting provider
• Exploring email hosted on dedicated hardware
• Evaluating an email providers’ offerings
• Comparing provider options with a downloadable worksheet
• Planning your migration path

Read only the chapters that apply to your stage in the email decision path, or read from front to back if you’re approaching the decision for the first time.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll take an in-depth look at each step. If you have any questions or are looking for clarification on concepts presented in the guide, add a comment below and we’ll address it in a future post.