A running theme that’s rippling through the cloud industry right now is “coop-aition.”  It’s the idea that enemies are friends, and friends are enemies, and as everyone strives towards a similar goal, the lines between the above terms is blurred amongst partnerships, referrals and conglomerations.

It’s something we picked up on at VMworld, and it’s still going strong at Oracle OpenWorld as well.  Just look at the reunion of Oracle and HP, with the ceremonious hatchet-burial over Mark Hurd’s trade knowledge, company shares and job change.  Now that everyone seems OK again, Oracle and HP can get back to the competitive alignment they once shared.

While at VMworld earlier this month, we noticed that many companies on the trade floor were, in some capacity, a partner or an enemy (or both) of their neighboring booths, not to mention the camp was being further split amongst VMware and Microsoft supporters, though the fact that most in fact support both camps was not something up for discussion during interviews.

Until it came to Hosting.com.  A post-conference follow-up with Director of Marketing & Communications Aaron Hollobaugh and Director of Platform Engineering Matt Ferrari offered some candid insight to the importance of mid-range companies like Hosting.com, when it comes to the future of cloud computing.

Unlike most other companies at VMworld, Hosting.com is an exclusive supporter of VMware.  Determining there were more business opportunities in doing so, Hosting.com decided to make this strategic alliance, making Microsoft fully aware of its decision.  One thing Hosting.com is quick to tell you, however, is that the company is not shy about maintaining relationships on both sides of the fence.  It places Hosting.com in a better position for leveraging these two massive players in the cloud space, knowing its own importance as an access point for them to reach potential clients.

In other words, Hosting.com is keeping its options open, retaining the ability to support Microsoft HyperV if and when need be.

The decision to support VMware exclusively was one of foresight, as Hosting.com had previously been a staunch Microsoft supporter.  Hosting.com jumped ship when the company realized VMware was ahead of the pack years ago, and was anxious to partner with mid-range businesses like Hosting.com.

Now, Hosting.com is using that same foresight to navigate the oncoming war between VMware and Microsoft, saying “we make no secret of it with our discussions with Microsoft, Dell, VMware, etc.  It’s an interesting relationship we have, and we’re kind of riding it all the way through.  VMware is building a marketplace through us and others, and our biggest competitors are the 75% of companies that don’t let go of their infrastructure, and are hugging their servers.”

Those are the companies the major industry players are after, and need the likes of Hosting.com to reach.  VMware has grown considerably in the past few years, losing some of its ability to work nimbly and directly with those targets.  To that end, VMware must work hand-in-hand with Hosting.com to build a subsequent strategy.


Be sure to check out our coverage of Oracle OpenWorld, going on right now, at SiliconAngle.tv.