As a run up to next months Structure conference, GigaOm has put together a list of the top 50 companies “that are influencing how the cloud and infrastructure evolves.” Those who made the list, entitled The Structure 50, are described as follows
These are the ones to watch — at least in 2011. You’ve heard of some – such as Amazon or Dell. Others – such as Nicira or Boundary – are probably not yet on your radar. But they should be. All of these companies, big or small, have people, technology or strategies that will help shape the way the cloud market is developing and where it will eventually end up.
Dell’s Bio
For each of the 50, GigaOm has put together a short “bio.” Here is the entry for Dell:
Founded
1984
Investors
Public Company
Structure50 Topic
Data Center
Description
Dell is among the world’s biggest server, storage and PC vendors, although the company has turned much of its focus to cloud computing software.
GigaOM’s Take
Dell has made heavy investments in cloud computing, ranging from dense, low-power servers for cloud data centers to software acquisitions and OEM deals that provide cutting-edge management capabilities. Going forward, Dell has plans to provide both Windows Azure- and OpenStack-based cloud services.
Looking forward to Structure 11
Members of the Dell cloud team, including myself, will be out in force at Structure 11. We will have a booth and Forrest Norrod, the GM of Dell’s Next Generation Computing Solutions division will be speaking on a panel. Forrest’s panel, entitled “The Economics of Open Everything,” will focus on OpenStack and Cloud Foundry as two specific initiatives built around open source.
If you find yourself at Structure swing by the booth or seek one of us out. Its a pretty intimate conference and we shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Pau for now…
Extra-credit reading
- Pics from Structure opening festivities (from last year)
- Dell Cloud Computing Solutions