Rackspace has teamed up with the European Organization for Nuclear Research to develop a federation service that connects its platform-as-a-service solution with OpenStack and the Rackspace Private Cloud architecture.

According to the company, its developers will collaborate with CERN’s openlab unit and a “full-time member of the CERN personnel team” to create a reference architecture and a complementary operational model that delivers this integration. The research organization, which recently marked the 20th anniversary of its decision to put the World Wide Web software in public domain, agreed to make the finished product available to the outside world.

Both parties have a lot to gain from the project. CERN will be able to manage its OpenStack deployments more easily, while Rackspace will augment its cloud portfolio with functionality that makes its solutions more viable for enterprise users.

The federation platform is expected to launch within a year.

“This is a landmark moment for Rackspace, as we feel this is an opportunity to take our already mutually beneficial relationship with CERN to new heights,” said Jim Curry, the senior vice president and general manager of Rackspace’s private cloud business. He explained that “through ongoing collaboration with CERN openlab, we will broaden the global reach of our hybrid cloud solutions, while simultaneously helping to set the pace of innovation within the field of particle physics.”

Today’s announcement reiterates the growing support for OpenStack, rallying the industry elite around its open source, collaborative cause.  The sentiment stretches across disruptors and legacy vendors alike, affording industry giants the tools to survive recent pangs of transition.  Vendors like Dell are walking the fine line between a profitable Services model and the anti-vendor lock-in model, OpenStack being a key contributor.  In a recent interview on theCUBE, Curry told us that Dell was an early supporter of the platform. He listed Citrix, NASA and other organizations that made major contributions to OpenStack, and helped the project get to where it is today.

See Curry’s full interview below.