Web-hosting provider Rackspace has acquired software developer Anso Labs to help build up the OpenStack cloud computing project, a company official said.
Rackspace, headquartered in Texas, co-founded OpenStack with NASA as an open-source cloud project with more than 50 participants including Dell and Citrix Systems. It went after Anso Labs because the San Francisco-based provider of software for private cloud computing infrastructure has also contributed to OpenStack.
Rackspace aims to develop a way to let customers move a workload from one cloud service provider to another, without being locked in. Extra talent and contributors are crucial as OpenStack vies for recognition against VMware’s vCloud software and Eucalyptus, which is compatible with Amazon Web Services.
“”Anso Labs is a core contributor to OpenStack,” said Lew Moorman, chief strategy officer and president of the Rackspace Cloud. “Through this strategic talent acquisition, we are increasing our investment in the success of OpenStack and our open source strategy.”
Last week saw the launch of the “Bexar” version of OpenStack, which improves storage and adds a software image repository, Rackspace said at the time.