Sun expands cloud computing with Q-Layer acquisition

Today, Sun Microsystems has expanded its cloud computing offering with the announced acquisition of Q-layer, a Belgium-based startup company with less than 30 people. As seems typical, the deal was announced for an undisclosed sum.

Q-Layer is a cloud computing company that helps automate the deployment and management of both public and private clouds. Think of them as the orchestration piece for virtualization or the cloud. Most recently, the company has been targeting the hosting and services market, providing them a comprehensive computing solution that extends the benefits of virtualization and helps IT departments with pain points such as chargeback.

Sun said that Q-Layer's technology simplifies cloud management and allows users to quickly provision and deploy applications. Their software supports instant provisioning of services such as servers, storage, bandwidth and applications, enabling users to scale their own environments to meet their specific requirements.

Sun has been expanding their virtualization story throughout 2007 and 2008 with a number of virtualization product enhancements and acquisitions. Now with the acquisition of Q-Layer, they are expanding their cloud computing offering. And the newly acquired technology will become a key component in Sun's strategy to enable building public and private clouds.

"Sun's open, network-centric approach coupled with optimized systems, software and services provides the critical building blocks for private and public cloud offerings," said David Douglas, senior vice president of Cloud Computing and chief sustainability officer, Sun Microsystems.

"Q-layer's technology and expertise will enhance Sun's offerings, simplifying cloud management and speeding application deployment."

Once the deal is complete, Q-Layer will become part of Sun's Cloud Computing business unit which develops and integrates cloud computing technologies, architectures and services. The acquisition should help expand Sun's ability to introduce its own public cloud offering to the market.

Posted by David Marshall on January 7, 2009 12:06 PM