AT&T Leads In Private Cloud, OpenStack Software: Goldman Sachs

By | February 25, 2016

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AT&T ( T ) will likely be the biggest user of OpenStack cloud computing software worldwide, says a Goldman Sachs report on growth in private clouds. “AT&T will likely become the largest OpenStack environment in the world, as they expect to build out their private cloud to 500,000 nodes (servers) and span across hundreds of data centers,” said Heather Bellini, a Goldman Sachs analyst, in a research report. AT&T and Verizon Communications ( VZ ) in January joined Facebook ’s ( FB ) Open Compute Project , which helps companies design and build low-cost data centers with open-source software. Behind VMware ( VMW ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), OpenStack is the third-most-popular software technology for private clouds  —  data centers that operate behind a corporate security firewall. OpenStack helps corporate IT departments manage data centers packed with computer servers. Rackspace Hosting ( RAX ) and government space agency NASA co-developed OpenStack in 2010, aiming to make the software a cloud computing standard. Many companies now back OpenStack, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ), Red Hat ( RHT ), Intel ( INTC ), IBM ( IBM ), Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Dell. AT&T plans to transform its massive network by 2020 — with software running on standard computing gear replacing specialized hardware. “AT&T hopes to run every call through its OpenStack infrastructure by 2020,” said the Goldman Sachs report. “The company believes it can take out  billions of dollars in capital spending and operating expenses from moving to private cloud as they can use commodity pizza boxes instead of proprietary Cisco boxes. The entire infrastructure will be automated, helping AT&T operate at a faster pace and bring in new services, which is easier to do when they are software-based.” AT&T is using OpenStack software provided by startup Mirantis, says Goldman Sachs. It says Verizon is also a Mirantis customer. Privately held Mirantis, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., says its investors include the venture capital arms of Intel, Ericsson ( ERIC ), Dell and Goldman Sachs ( GS ). Goldman Sachs says Red Hat and VMware are the leading providers of OpenStack software for private clouds. Image provided by Shutterstock . Scalper1 News

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