Rackspace has launched an initiative to expand beyond basic Web hosting services, and to dive into the realm of cloud hosting with two upcoming acquisitions.  The company hopes to leverage its already expansive hosting technologies into niche cloud environments for both consumers and the enterprise.

The company announced in a press release that it has agreed to acquire hosting startups Slicehost and Jungle Disk, as well as an initiative to establish relationships with Limelight Networks and Sonian Networks to provide more robust service offerings.  The new acquisitions bring proven solutions to the suite including on-demand, virtualized servers and online storage software and services.

Rackspace has already launched Mosso, its cloud hosting division, and was in need of innovative services to help it compete against the likes of Amazon and others who are launching their own cloud hosting initiatives.  "Cloud computing offers tremendous benefits to our customers that complement our traditional managed hosting services," said Lanham Napier, CEO, Rackspace Hosting.  "Being a leader in hosting means being a leader in the cloud.  Today, we made clear our intent to have the best suite of cloud offerings.  Our new offerings are part of a strategy to bring cloud benefits to all businesses with simple, cost-effective products that everyone can use, backed by the best customer support that only Rackspace can deliver."

Slicehost, based in St. Louis, MO is a leader in Xen-based virtual machine hosting with more than 15,000 "slices" online today.  Jungle Disk offers reliable cloud storage solutions that allow users to easily share an unlimited amount of cloud storage between multiple users through a secure, mountable network drive and automatic backup.  Over time, Rackspace intends to integrate their capabilities into its complete hosting portfolio to provide business customers a suite of hosting solutions to meet all of their IT needs.

Rackspace already had an impressive lineup of cloud hosting services before these recent acquisitions.  With the addition of Slicehost and Jungle Disk, the company will be closer to being the first true provider of all-inclusive cloud hosting products.  Instead of having to use one hosting provider for certain functionality, and another for other situations, Rackspace wants to be a one-stop shop.  If you ask me, they’re positioning themselves perfectly for the undeniable growth of cloud computing.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 5:51 pm under Internet.

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