Rackspace Launches DevOps Automation Service

The new DevOps Automation Service is an extension of Rackspace's managed support service, Fanatical Support, and includes the app development community. The move is in response to Rackspace's recognition that clients are moving faster in the marketplace and are looking to push applications out within days instead of months, said Jonathan Siegel, Rackspace director of product.

"What we're seeing is companies are moving faster. They're making a number of technical and practice decisions that are helping them move faster," Siegel told CRN. "To really make those choices happen, they need to develop the capabilities within their team for doing DevOps automation."

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The DevOps Automation Service enforces best practices through automation, Siegel said, by testing and tracking changes to the system. Those are important, he said, as development speeds make it tempting to cut corners.

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Trevor White, CTO of LeadOutcome, a company involved in beta testing the product, said that he likes the automation, 24x7 support, testing and consistency provided by the product.

"With a small team we don't have the resources to provide that [automation] effectively," White told CRN. "I don't have to hire a whole bunch of people to make that happen."

Matt Barlow, senior manager of Fanatical Support at Rackspace, said that many of the company's customers have similar concerns about scaling up speed without increasing headcount.

"What we often find is customers who have development teams, many of their developers are also taking on their operations responsibilities ... that's where [Rackspace] stepped in and was able to help them," Barlow said.

With the release of the DevOps Automation Service, clients can free up time to focus on app development itself, Siegel said, and zero in on what differentiates their business.

PUBLISHED DEC. 12, 2013