Linking on- and off-premise infrastructure will become much easier for OpenStack adopters once they upgrade to the new version of the platform that launched last week, at least if they plan on using Google’s public cloud. The Alphabet Inc. subsidiary has contributed a homegrown block storage driver to the release that makes it possible to directly synchronize data from in-house deployments to its public cloud without any external assistance.

The addition thereby removes the need for the third party integration software that organizations had to buy until now in order to provide such functionality, which can noticeably reduce the cost of large-scale implementation efforts. And in the process, the driver also avoids the complexity that comes with adding another moving part to a large-scale OpenStack deployment. As a result, the setup process is made easier and there’s less componentry for administrators to maintain on the long run. Their peers in the application development department, meanwhile, gain the ability to take advantage of their company’s off-premise infrastructure much more easily.

A hybrid cloud workload can transfer data to Google Cloud Public directly through OpenStack’s Cinder component without requiring any built-in mechanism for reaching beyond the firewall. The catch is that the search giant’s platform is only supported as a backup target, which limits its usefulness. However, there’s more than a good chance that the search giant will expand support for the data center operating system as it continues to gain traction among large enterprises and service providers.

And from there, it’s almost inevitable that rivals Amazon Inc. and Microsoft Corp. will follow suit despite their historically attitude towards OpenStack thus far: The public cloud a long traditional of one-upmanship that most recently saw Google and Redmond introduce competing alternatives to AWS Lambda just a few days apart. If and when they commit to OpenStack, the platform will become a much more attractive option for running hybrid cloud applications, especially among everyday enterprises that lack the resources to deal with the complexity of third-party integration software.

Image via Stux