We thought about taking the opportunity to ask Mikael Lirbank, CEO of Witsbits, a few questions about Witsbits and the update. This gives us a better insight on Go Cloud along with where Witsbits is heading in the future. For example, Witsbits is planning to step into the US market by initiating a setup in the region.
ArcticStartup: How far has Witsbits come since 2009?
Mikael Lirbank (ML): In May 2010 we received seed funding to validate Go Cloud in market. What we’ve continue to hear from customer prospects and sales/solution partners is that Go Cloud is the most simplified and easy to use product. A key factor for customers to move forward with implementing a cloud management solution is ease of installation and ease of use with simplified management – “Time-to-Cloud” is key here so to speak.
ArcticStartup: There was a recent update at Witsbits that lets users setup one’s own internal Cloud – how does that work?
ML: With the “Time-to-Cloud” factor in mind we have developed a completely new concept of delivering cloud management platforms. In short, you could describe Go Cloud as a “remote server/cloud management platform – delivered as a service” that allows any administrator to manage and virtualize their on-site physical servers in a matter of minutes via a web browser.
They simply plug in our free boot CD-ROM or boot USB-stick into their server, and turn the power on. The server then starts and will automatically connect to the management system – and, that’s it.
You can visit this link to see how it works.
ArcticStartup: The Cloud, given this is what your idea revolves around, how has the dependency of firms, consumers on Cloud evolved?
ML: What we can see is that Amazon’s web services play a central role when it comes to public cloud deployments in the consumer space. Amazon’s architecture is also a founding factor to new start-up solutions and products, for example RightScale and Makara (acquired by Red Hat).
For internal enterprise data centers VMware is the dominant player. Here, there is a move towards integrating internal clouds/capacity with external/public clouds for policy based scale-out capabilities (i.e. hybrid clouds). There is currently a demand for consultants that understand application deployments and hybrid cloud architecture.
Keep in mind that Witsbits is mainly focusing on supporting IT administrators and cloud operators (or to-be cloud operators) with their cloud infrastructure.
ArcticStartup: The year ahead; what is being planned for Witsbits?
ML: Our concept of delivering a cloud infrastructure via a remote management platform is so different and new, that we are registering and protecting our IP/invention in the USA. We are setting up a US based company in the Silicon Valley, this will give the company a much stronger position to address the US market, to be close to potential partners and to increase our visibility.
We are preparing a larger financing round too. We are working close with customers to validate our assumptions and we continue to collect data to improve the marketing of our highly scalable, and low-cost distribution model.