Cisco Systems Inc. has revealed that it’s about to kill off its OpenStack-based Intercloud Services public cloud infrastructure.

The service will shut down in March 2017, the maker of networking gear and software said in an internal memo , with workloads being moved to other infrastructure such as public cloud. The Register was first to report the news today, noting that Cisco introduced its Intercloud platform back in 2014, putting a strong emphasis on its partnerships with cloud providers and its ability to shift workloads across multiple types of cloud.

Intercloud Services is not to be confused with Cisco’s Intercloud software, which allows organizations to move workloads to private clouds from public clouds. Cisco’s Intercloud Services platform offers computing, storage and networking services that are similar to what can be found on better known public cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Intercloud’s compute services include virtual machine instances for general-purpose workloads, plus memory and storage-optimized instances. The platform offers a selection of operating systems too, including CentOS, Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu and Windows, running atop of Cisco’s UCS servers and Intel’s Xeon chips.

As to why Cisco is shutting the platform down, the decision is said to be a strategic one. Users of the platform “will be informed of the plan to shut down the CIS platform tomorrow,” The Register reported, quoting a memo from Cisco Vice President of Cloud Platform and Services Kip Compton.

Cisco certainly isn’t the first company to kill off an OpenStack-based cloud offering. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co. did something similar when it ditched its Helion OpenStack offering, while Dell Technologies Inc. considered launching its own OpenStack cloud before deciding against it. Rackspace Inc., which was one of the first and biggest backers of OpenStack, has since pivoted away from the platform towards a managed-cloud strategy.

A question remains about whether or not Cisco will decide to abandon its OpenStack efforts completely – if it does walk away, it would become the second large company to do so in recent weeks, something that might give OpenStack’s board cause for concern.

“Another traditional IT provider public cloud bites the dust, which at this point doesn’t come as a surprise,”  Constellation Research principal analyst Holger Mueller said in a report. “The common thread for these clouds was that they built on OpenStack, and by now it looks like OpenStack has very little success among large commercial enterprises.”

Here’s Cisco’s full public statement on the decision to kill Intercloud Services:

“Cisco has internally communicated that we are discontinuing one of our internal cloud platforms and will be transitioning affected workloads onto other platforms. We do not expect any material customer issues as a result of this transition. For the last several months we have been evolving our cloud strategy and our service provider partners are aware of this.”

“Cisco continually re-evaluates its technology strategy as customers’ needs evolve. The cloud market has shifted considerably in the last two years, and many of our customers are asking Cisco to help them develop cloud strategies that will help drive their digital transformations. With the global availability of cloud offerings, the trend toward rapid application development with microservices, and the ability to orchestrate workloads across private and public clouds, Cisco has evolved its cloud strategy from federating clouds to helping customers build and manage hybrid IT environments. Our cloud strategy centers on building and delivering secure hybrid cloud infrastructure, platforms, and services — with our partners — that offer customers the freedom to choose the best environments and consumption models for their traditional and new cloud-native applications.”

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