The company has a few things going for it, agrees analyst Michael Cote, Redmonk. "Based on their momentum, their software seems to work, which is saying a lot for something as new as cloud computing. Many of the 'real cloud' projects out there require a tremendous amount of what we used to call systems integration, now 'cloud integration,' work to make up for immature software."
Besides being "suitably functional for its age," the other thing Cote thinks Cloud.com has wisely done (and hopes it will continue to do) is set a course for merging with OpenStack. "I'm not too sure what that will mean, but the overall community around OpenStack is looking hopeful. And, again, while OpenStack isn't 'done' yet, the progress they're making so far is encouraging. Several, though by no means all, large, customer-rich, vendors are looking around for cloud stacks to standardize on, and the short list is often coming up at VMware, OpenStack (once it gets out of the oven), and one or two more. In that context, aligning itself with OpenStack, in the road-map sense, probably gives Cloud.com a larger future than it'd have if it was still a cloud island."
Overall, the company is a market leader, states analyst William Fellows, The 451 Group. He says it is flexible from a functional and non-functional point of view, multihypervisor and has lots of partner integrations, as well as a large geographical footprint. Cloud.com also has a nice mix of customers, he adds, including telcos, service providers and enterprises.
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