Virtustream

Virtustream operates as an enterprise-class cloud service and software provider, specializing in migrating and managing mission-critical applications for large organizations. The company was established in 2009 by Rodney Rogers and Kevin Reid, aiming to address the complexities of running stateful, mission-critical enterprise applications in a cloud environment. This focus stemmed from the founders' prior experiences, particularly Rogers' background at Adjoined, a business and technology consulting firm acquired by Kanbay International. His journey revealed a significant gap in the market for a cloud platform that could offer the performance, security, and compliance required by legacy enterprise systems, such as those from SAP.

The company's core offering is its xStream management platform, which underpins its Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). This platform is designed to provide a secure and efficient environment for complex production applications, catering to enterprises, service providers, and government agencies. A key differentiator is its consumption-based billing model, enabled by the MicroVM technology, which allows customers to pay only for the computing, memory, and storage resources they actually use, rather than pre-allocating virtual machines. This approach targets the specific needs of applications that have variable workloads, aiming to provide a more cost-effective solution compared to other cloud providers.

Virtustream's business model centers on providing these specialized cloud services for both private, public, and hybrid cloud deployments. Its target market consists of organizations with significant investments in complex enterprise software, like SAP, that require a robust and compliant cloud infrastructure for their core operations. Significant milestones in the company's history include its acquisition by EMC Corporation in 2015 for approximately $1.2 billion, which validated its strategic importance in the enterprise cloud market. Following this, Virtustream became part of Dell Technologies after Dell's acquisition of EMC in 2016. In 2022, Dell Technologies announced the sale of Virtustream to an investment group, marking a new chapter for the company as an independent entity once again.

Keywords: enterprise cloud, mission-critical applications, cloud migration, IaaS, hybrid cloud, consumption-based billing, xStream platform, application management, Dell Technologies, EMC