CumuLogic Offers Private PaaS Cloud Software

CumuLogic is releasing a beta version of software that lets enterprises build a private platform-as-a-service cloud for running Java applications.

The software, which CumuLogic says will help companies reduce costs associated with managing the underlying infrastructure of their private clouds, works on clouds running Cloud.com, Eucalyptus and VMware. CumuLogic is working on compatibility with OpenStack.

“You can deploy it any way you want. We’re agnostic but we give you a consistent platform across clouds,” said Rajesh Ramchandani, vice president of products and founder of CumuLogic. “There are no underlying dependencies on a particular [infrastructure-as-a-service] cloud service.”

CumuLogic offers customers what it calls a cloud services catalog, which is a repository of infrastructure components such as different database software, Web servers and application servers that have already been integrated into the CumuLogic platform. Developers and IT administrators can pick the ones they want to use from the catalog when building a stack for a given application, eliminating the need to build service images, Ramchandani said.

Also, CumuLogic’s software includes a mechanism for automatically updating those components for users when updates are available. That saves IT administrators from having to manually install such updates and patches for all of the software they use to support their applications.

Those tools will help drive interest from enterprises looking to consolidate their application infrastructure, Ramchandani said. Over the years, enterprises sometimes deploy services using different applications, such as various kinds of databases. “Managing those is becoming totally cost prohibitive,” he said.

“With PaaS, you can consolidate all your applications into one single platform. You can have one consistent platform deployed across the enterprise, so all the business groups and development teams use the same set of infrastructure,” he said.

CumuLogic’s software helps with lifecycle management through a mechanism that preserves each stage of the software development process, as developers move the software through quality assurance to production.

It also includes a set of APIs for developers that lets them deploy and debug apps.

CumuLogic previously began offering the software as a service on Amazon’s Web Services so that companies could try it out. The management console that comes with the software lets companies manage both their in-house cloud service as well as applications running on public clouds. That capability is aimed at making it easy for a user to, for instance, test an application internally and easily move it to a public cloud to make it available widely.

While CumuLogic’s software can be used by enterprises, the company is also targeting cloud providers and ISVs that may want to use the software on platforms they use to deliver services to customers.

Cloud Foundry, a VMware project, also plans to offer software that enterprises can use to build private PaaS projects for Java applications. Ramchandani suspects that offering will only be available to run on VMware software, making CumuLogic attractive to companies using Eucalyptus or other platforms. When VMware launched Cloud Foundry in April, it did not say if the enterprise software would be limited to VMware.

Ramchandani is a former Sun Microsystems executive who started CumuLogic early this year. He has recruited other Sun leaders to join him: James Gosling, known as the creator of Java, and Bill Vass, who was CIO of Sun, both serve on a CumuLogic advisory board.

The beta is available for free on CumuLogic’s website. The company has not yet figured out how it will price the software, which is expected to become commercially available in October.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy’s e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com