Rackspace Cloud

Rackspace is leading a revolution in the cloud computing world by opening the cloud. Our cloud is built on OpenStack™, which means it’s powered by community-contributed code and if users choose our cloud they are not locked in. It’s a compelling story, but a complicated one to tell. As storytellers, it is the job of our team to tell the Rackspace story to the variety of people we engage in conversations, whether they’re highly technical, or new to the cloud.

For many folks, the first foray into living away from home involves an apartment or a college dormitory. You start out with something small, probably with one or more roommates. Eventually though, you want your own bathroom. Then maybe a spare bedroom to turn into an office. Then another spare bedroom to use as a nursery. At some point you get tired of dealing with your neighbors’ late night parties and you decide to move into a house. It’s nice, it’s quiet and you’re still renting so someone else is responsible for ensuring that the stove works and the sink drains. But what comes next? What about when it’s time to buy an apartment, condo or house of your own?

With all of the options available today for managing IT workloads, it can be very easy to confuse cloud computing solutions with virtualization solutions. Both offer a number of advantages over traditional bare metal hosting. The challenge is determining which is the right option for the problem you’re trying to solve.

Even though I’ve worked on startups that create apps, I’m not a developer. If you were to ask me to write some code, I would have to reach into the depths of my memory to my freshman year as a Chemical Engineering major to recall how to write the “Hello world” program in C++.  However, the Internet has connected us in a way that allows information sharing and knowledge transfer so even a non-developer has the ability to create software.

At Rackspace, we are looking at ways to reach our readers in the channels that they like to consume content. This is why we are launching Google+ Video Wednesday, where we will be posting a weekly video of our Rackers giving tips and tricks on how to use some of our products.

People get inspiration from a variety of places. I get ideas while browsing the web, showering in the morning, waking up from a deep sleep and drinking at the bar (I would love to see an infographic on how many ideas were hatched over a brew). You’ve been hit with a flash of genius for a new software application, so now what’s next?

The world is changing with the advent and mainstream adoption of the cloud. Not since the Italian Renaissance have we seen this level of creative energy unleashed. But as opposed to being locked in geographically to Western Europe, this revolution is sweeping the globe.

One question that I commonly get is, “So how exactly does Managed Cloud support my business.” There is a lot of documentation on our service level and what we actually do, however, for this post I wanted to give a very high level analogy of how Managed Cloud delivers support to you and your organization.

The coming year will likely see unprecedented growth in cloud computing, especially as people become more comfortable with the interaction of the interfaces and security becomes more stable.

Image via Wikipedia