These companies attack the cloud from many angles, as software development in the cloud expands to take on many forms. This is the arena where developers can do what it takes to create winning cloud strategies. They may offer cloud-based development and application scaling or infrastructure management for deploying and managing apps in the cloud. Or they may offer a Platform-as-a-Service that virtualizes applications through a combination of open source software and hardware. There are many ways to build cloud-based platforms. Here are some of the most intriguing vendors doing it.

Also, be sure to check out the rest of CRN's 100 Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors and the top cloud computing vendors from last year's list.

ActiveState’s roster of products and services targets a host of Web languages, Perl, Python and Tcl include, to blaze a new trail for development, management, distribution and cloud solutions for dynamic language applications. ActiveState is used by more than 2 million developers.

Formerly PHPFog, AppFog stormed the Platform-as-a-Service space with its PHP-based cloud. Offering cloud-based development and app scaling in PHP, the well-funded AppFog boasts one-click deployment for PHP apps like WordPress, Drupal, Kohana, Zend and SugarCRM.

Apprenda, closed out 2011 with a big funding boost, adding $10 million to accelerate its product road map, and spin up marketing and sales initiatives around its PaaS. Apprenda’s “open PaaS stack” enables an organization to transform its infrastructure into a self-service, cloud app platform.

Want Java apps in the cloud? CloudBees’ platform promises the ability to build, run and manage Java applications in the cloud, quickly and with ease. CloudBees’ Java Platform-as-a-Service is aimed at enterprises and ISVs for coverage of the app lifecycle from development to production.

In the world of big data, Cloudera offers up the Apache Hadoop-based platform that let users pull value from their structured and unstructured data. Using open source technology, Cloudera’s Management Suite and other software let data driven enterprises pull intelligence from data.

CumuLogic battles vendor lock-in with private Java PaaS. Aimed at security- and compliance-sensitive organizations, CumuLogic’s platform lets users build business-ready private PaaS to improve developer productivity, reduce cloud app management costs and maintain security and compliance.

Billed as one of the hottest companies in San Francisco, Engine Yard flexes its Ruby on Rails and PHP muscles to deliver PaaS that lets businesses easily build and run cloud applications. Engine Yard brings expertise, uptime guarantees and promises of performance and scale.

enStratus offers a cloud infrastructure management play for deploying and managing applications in any kind of cloud. enStratus calls itself the “enterprise console to the world of cloud computing” and focuses on the consumption of one or more cloud services from a single platform.

Looking for a silo-free cloud application architecture? GigaSpaces looks to deliver just that with its application virtualization and cloud platforms that enable the move of mission-critical applications to next generation environments with its XAP Elastic Application Platform and Cloudify offerings.

Visual WebGUI, Gizmox’s platform has been lauded in cloud, mobile and Web circles as a must-have in the HTML5 game. The cross-platform mobile, Web and cloud app delivery platform transposes client/server apps to HTML5 with the same functionality and lets developers run with it.

GridGain is attacking the big data explosion head-on with its Real Time Big Data platform that lets users develop, scale and manage compute- and data-intensive big data apps using integrated compute and in-memory data grids with Java, Scala and Groovy native APIs.

The well-funded Intalio calls itself “the leading vendor of private cloud applications” and the company’s open source offers may make that bit of boasting true. Its cloud platform lets organizations develop process-driven applications and build apps in a development environment with few headaches.

Joyent is a true cloud up-and-comer with its SmartDataCenter cloud stack that marries the PaaS, infrastructure, orchestration and appliances for the cloud. Joyent’s mission is to give companies the keys to dive their own clouds through its software stack and set of cloud services.

Having been around since 2003 makes LongJump a cloud application platform elder statesman of sorts. LongJump’s platform lets businesses automate processes, collaborate and boost visibility through real-time reporting, and lets developers and solution providers monetize best practices into their own SaaS offerings.

Morphlabs offers a Platform-as-a-Service that virtualizes applications through a combination of open source software and hardware. Its mCloud suite offers provisioning, billing and virtual machine management to fulfill its mission of “empowering everyone to join the cloud cloud revolution.”

MuleSoft is changing the cloud platform lexicon with its iON, or integration platform-as-aservice (iPaaS). The iON cloud-based integration platform, built on the Mule integration technology, lets developers and app teams integrate and orchestrate apps and services across the enterprise and the cloud.

Calling itself an IT delivery automation platform, OS33 lets MSPs provision cloud-based infrastructure resources, deploy applications and create companies and users with brandable, Web-based desktops populated with hosted IT assets. The upstart calls it IT-as-a-Service, but we call it cloud computing.

Parallels has been around since long before the cloud boom, but the hosting and cloud service enablement company has made its name in cloud. Offering a full suite of cloud-focused solutions, including virtualization and automation, Parallels optimizes computing for consumers, businesses and service providers.

Red Hat is attacking the cloud on several fronts, ranging from infrastructure to applications. But Red Hat is putting a lot of weight behind its OpenShift PaaS for open source developers, which offers a vast choice in languages, frameworks and clouds for application developers.

With its xStream secure, high-performance cloud platform, Virtustream makes hybrid cloud deployments possible, while also supporting multiple hypervisors. And the company says it’s the industry’s first to offer a subvirtual machine pricing model that is truly consumption-based, a leg up on its competitors.

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