Rackspace to acquire Anso for OpenStack project

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

In an effort to expedite development of its OpenStack cloud operating system, Rackspace recently confirmed plans to acquire cloud computing developer Anso Labs, the Register reports.

News of the acquisition was first leaked by a member of the Citrix OpenStack community, and was later confirmed by Rackspace, according to the Register.

OpenStack, which was launched by Rackspace and NASA last year, is a cloud operating system project currently being developed by more than 50 partner companies, including Citrix, Canonical and Cisco, as well as more than 1,000 independent contributors.

According to the Register, the acquisition of Anso strengthens Rackspace's position to lead the project, as many Anso employees are among its top contributors.

"Anso Labs is a core contributor to OpenStack," said Lew Moorman, Rackspace president and chief strategy officer, according to IDG News Service. "Through this strategic talent acquisition, we are increasing our investment in the success of OpenStack and our open source strategy."

This marks Rackspace's second major acquisition in recent months. In December, the company acquired cloud server management startup Cloudkick.