Engine Yard Drives Ruby Into the Cloud

Company:

Headquarters: San Francisco

Technology Sector: Software

Key Product: Engine Yard Cloud

Year Founded: 2006

Number of Channel Partners: 30 worldwide

Ideal Channel Partner: Midmarket-focused solution providers

Why You Should Care: Cloud computing infrastructure is already a $2.5 billion market. Engine Yard provides application deployment and management services for solution providers who develop Ruby on Rails-based cloud applications for customers.

The Lowdown: Engine Yard got its start developing Web applications for clients using Ruby on Rails, the scripting language and application framework favored by as many as 500,000 developers. Those customers began asking the company to host those applications, and Engine Yard has evolved into a supplier of automation and management technologies and services for cloud computing software based on Ruby on Rails.

Engine Yard is riding the cloud computing wave and the growing acceptance of Software-as-a-Service and platform-as-a-service technologies by mid-size and large businesses. "This model is really about the flexibility of utility computing. It's a pay-as-a-you-go model," said Marcy Campbell, vice president of worldwide sales and business at Engine Yard.

And Ruby on Rails is a popular environment for building Web applications: Its proponents say developers can build applications as much as five times faster than using other development technologies.

Last month, Engine Yard received $19 million in third-round financing from venture capital investors, bringing its total funding to $37 million.

While Engine Yard's sales are still a mix of direct and indirect sales, Campbell said the company is transitioning to an all-channel sales model, providing Web application deployment and management tools and services to solution providers, including ISVs and Web site developers.

Last month Engine Yard launched a channel program and has enlisted 30 solution providers, including some it has been working with for some time, such as Hashrocket and Pivotal Labs.

"Those partners have been bringing us leads because we add value to their offerings," Campbell said. The three-tier program offers a partner portal, channel development funds, marketing assistance and other services. The company also is transitioning its sales force from selling direct to working with channel partners.

Some solution providers resell Engine Yard's services while others work on a reference basis. Campbell expects to have 50 to 60 partners in the program by the end of the year and 100 to 150 by the end of next year. "They give us the reach and the leverage worldwide into opportunities that we wouldn't necessarily see," Campbell said.