Canonical and Autonomic Resources partner to bring Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud to the US federal government

Canonical and Autonomic Resources today announced the availability of an integrated product based on Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) and Dell Blade server hardware under the ARC-P cloud product family. ARC-P-UEC is now available for purchase as single SKU on Autonomic’s GSA Schedule 70 contract. UEC has proved very popular with private companies testing and developing cloud built on their internal servers and datacentres. This move makes that same technology available the the federal government and offers the efficiencies of cloud computing to the large-scale but often budget-restricted government IT sectors.

Autonomic Resources was founded in 2001 and has brought superior IT solution to the federal government since then. As Public and Private cloud computing provider and open-source technology integration leader, adopting Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud, the leading open-source implementation of the de facto industry standards for cloud computing, made obvious sense for the company. Autonomic Resources used their extensive experience with federal purchasing policy to get a certified bundle of UEC on Dell Blade servers available via the US General Services Administration (GSA) supply schedule.

“We are delighted that the benefits of open-source based cloud computing technology is now available to US government agencies” said Neil Levine, VP of Corporate Services at Canonical. “The larger the scale the greater the efficiencies and the greater the savings, a win-win for any federal body. Having the solution pre-installed on Dell servers will also remove installation headaches and provide agencies with a turnkey solution to bring the power of cloud to their datacenter.”

The product is fully supported by Autonomic Resources and Canonical. It comes bundled with Canonical’s ‘Ubuntu Advantage’ support subscription service for servers and cloud which gives access to telephone support from Canonical as well as Ubuntu’s system management solution ‘Landscape’.

“UEC is the next logical step in our path forward for delivering emerging technologies that government agencies are seeking. Changes in policy such as Cloud First are requiring government customers to consider the advantages of cloud computing first when doing their IT planning. This is a timely offering for our customers. The single SKU model offers rapid private or hybrid cloud adoption for agencies. ARC-P is priced as a fully racked and baseline configured private cloud capable of being “rolled in” to your datacenter or to one of our multiple FISMA compliant locations. Our offering is meant to make cloud adoption friction free and straight forward.” stated Autonomic’s President John Keese.

Availability

Government agencies can locate a base software, hardware and services bundle on gas advantage.gov under Autonomic Resources GS35F0587R MAS 70 schedule. Further information can be located on Autonomic’s website www.autonomicresources.com or www.arc-p.com

Autonomic Resources and Canonical will host a webinar on Feb 24, 2010 at 2:00 pm EST to highlight the benefits ARC-P. Details can be found on: http://www1.autonomicresources.com/l/3312/2011-02-08/57OV9

About Canonical

Canonical provides engineering, online and professional services to Ubuntu partners and customers worldwide. As the company behind the Ubuntu project, Canonical is committed to the production and support of Ubuntu – an ever-popular and fast-growing open-source operating system. It aims to ensure that Ubuntu is available to every organisation and individual on servers, desktops, laptops and netbooks.
Canonical partners with computer hardware manufacturers to certify Ubuntu, provides migration, deployment, support and training services to businesses, and offers online services direct to end users. Canonical also builds and maintains collaborative, open-source development tools to ensure that organisations and individuals can participate fully in innovations within the open-source community. For more information, please visit www.canonical.com

About Autonomic Resources

Autonomic Resources is a service integration firm and cloud provider serving the U.S. federal government. Core capabilities include the implementation of strategic technologies including data center automation, cloud computing, open source adoption, information assurance and compliance, advanced network infrastructure, and software development services. Headquartered in Cary, N.C., Autonomic is also a US SBA certified 8(a) SDB.