ZeroStack Launches 'Self-Driving Cloud'

News Analysis Mitch Wagner, Executive Editor, Light Reading 2/6/2017

ZeroStack, a startup that provides on-premises appliances for hybrid clouds, has introduced "self-driving" capabilities to automate routine operations, management and upgrades.

ZeroStack Z-Brain uses data from its hybrid cloud management service -- which is itself based in the cloud -- to make long-term decisions for capacity planning and anomaly detection, troubleshoot problems, predict future needs and decide where to put workloads, Steve Garrison, vice president of marketing, tells Light Reading.

ZeroStack provides software that operators can load on their own servers, or on third-party servers, to run applications either locally or on the Amazon Web Services Inc. public cloud, with VMware integration, and plans to support Microsoft Azure in the spring and Google Cloud in the summer. ZeroStack supports hardware from Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Supermicro or the operator's own servers.

Cloud analytics and optimization are hot markets, as enterprises look to juggle on-premises IT and multiple cloud providers. Last month, Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) acquired AppDynamics for cloud monitoring, application and business performance, paying $3.7 billion. Cisco this month upgraded its Tetration Analytics platform to beef up security. (See Cisco Tetration Analytics Tightens Security, Cisco Buying AppDynamics for $3.7B, and Cisco's AppDynamics Deal Goes Beyond Cloud.)

Earlier this month Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquired Niara for security analytics, and VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) bought Arkin last year to enhance its data center automation. (See HPE Acquires Security Analytics Startup Niara and VMware Grabs Arkin for Data Center Automation.)

Network automation is also drawing attention from startups, including Apstra and Kentik. (See Arista Co-Founder Backs Network Automation Startup and Kentik Scores $23M in Funding for Cloud Network Analytics.)

Hybrid cloud appeals to enterprises with legacy on-premises computing and networks. While public cloud may be the long-term future (Amazon certainly thinks so -- though of course Amazon has a vested interest in that), enterprises aren't going to blow up their existing infrastructure tomorrow and go all-in on public cloud. (See AWS Maintains Its Public Cloud Dominance and AWS Growth Slows, But Amazon's Still Killing It in Cloud.)

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And hybrid cloud might be the long-term future as well, giving enterprises increased control over some apps while providing the flexibility of public cloud.

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and IBM are betting on hybrid cloud, while Amazon -- the public cloud leader -- is building bridges to the hybrid cloud, with a recent partnership with VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) that allows enterprises to extend their private VMware infrastructure to the public cloud.

ZeroStack provides a distinctive approach, with an appliance that extends the public cloud onto enterprise premises.

The company was founded in 2014 and has 45 employees plus $21 million in funding from two rounds, attracting investment from Foundation Capital , Formation 8 and Leslie Ventures.

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— Mitch Wagner, , Editor, Light Reading Enterprise Cloud

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