Intel to lead $100mln infusion into Mirantis

Specifically the two companies will address: performance at scale, storage, network integration and support for big data.

Intel previously invested in Mirantis in 2013, the Times said.

Mirantis has been building its own version of OpenStack, which started off as integrating technologies from a variety of different vendors. OpenStack has certainly matured over the past few years and with a $100m investment coming Mirantis’ way, OpenStack could soon be installed with the push of a few buttons.

OpenStack cloud software, introduced in 2010, is built by a global development team of open source contributors under the guidance of the OpenStack Foundation.

The collaboration is a part of Intel‘s recently announced “Cloud for All” initiative, which aims to create tens of thousands of new clouds.

OpenStack is open source software package for technicians to create private and public clouds, and is generally considered a competitor to VMWare commercial offerings in virtualization. Mirantis was one of the initial partners, and has since been OpenStack’s advocate; alongside, it is also an official retailer of subscriptions for the system. Critics argue that cloud operators with little cloud configuration experience often find OpenStack deployment and scaling to be a challenge. Intel hasn’t been afraid to throw investments into these projects, and it has been saying for months it would help pick and choose startups to bolster as well.

The partnership and collaboration with Intel is only the latest significant step for both Mirantis and the larger effort in the OpenStack environment, and gives a boost to the idea of using the technology in enterprise data centers, according to Alex Freedland, co-founder and president of Mirantis. “A betting man would be sorely tempted to put his chips on the public cloud providers to win”.

The software OpenStack, which competes with products from Microsoft and VMWare Inc has been developing in a slower phase since its launch by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Rackspace Hosting Inc., that provides cloud computing services.

Intel is hoping that a $100 million investment will help Mirantis finetune OpenStack to better meet enterprise needs.

Mirantis is almost a lone survivor among a cluster of early OpenStack companies. Intel’s investment into Mirantis should help the company optimize its enterprise features and drive more industry adoption.

Business Insider asked Mirantis for more details on that, but a spokesperson declined to describe it, saying, “The total funding round is $100 million, led by Intel”.