Calm.io

Calm.io operated as a platform providing automated cloud application management software, positioning itself to address complexities in DevOps for modern IT environments. The company was founded in 2009 by Aaditya Sood, Aalok Sood, and Saju Pillai. The initial idea reportedly stemmed from Aaditya Sood's desire to automate the repetitive software update tasks his wife, a software engineer, had to perform nightly. This personal project evolved into a marketable product addressing a common challenge for many companies that would otherwise need to build costly in-house automation tools. Aaditya Sood, a self-described geek with a long-standing passion for programming since childhood, had a background working at Oracle and other startups before co-founding Calm.io.

The firm's core business was centered on a DevOps automation platform designed for environments using containers, cloud infrastructure, and microservices. It enabled clients to deploy, manage, and operate distributed applications across hybrid clouds from a single console. The platform supported a wide range of technologies, including containers like Docker, virtual machines, and binaries, alongside native integration with cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and OpenStack. Key functionalities included one-click lifecycle activity automation and policy-based governance to ensure compliance. The business model targeted enterprise clients, including notable organizations like NSE and Snapdeal, who used the platform to manage critical software updates and deployments. The company's solution was designed to bring an application-centric approach to IT infrastructure, allowing users to select the optimal cloud for each specific application.

After its inception, Calm.io secured a total of $4.6 million in funding over three rounds, with Sequoia Capital being a significant institutional investor. The company also participated in the Microsoft Accelerator program in India. A major milestone occurred in August 2016 when enterprise cloud computing company Nutanix acquired Calm.io for an undisclosed amount, although an S1 filing mentioned terms involving $1.2 million in cash and 528,517 Nutanix shares. The acquisition was a strategic move for Nutanix to integrate Calm.io's automation and management capabilities into its own Enterprise Cloud Platform, specifically to enhance its Prism management software with application-centric orchestration. Post-acquisition, the Calm.io technology has been integrated and evolved into the Nutanix Calm product, which focuses on application lifecycle management, multicloud orchestration, and self-service provisioning through application blueprints.

Keywords: DevOps automation, cloud application management, Nutanix Calm, hybrid cloud, microservices orchestration, application lifecycle management, Aaditya Sood, Sequoia Capital, cloud infrastructure automation, application mobility, IT orchestration, single-console deployment, container management, Docker support, VM deployment, policy-based governance, Nutanix acquisition, application blueprinting, self-service IT, multi-cloud management