Volkswagen Group selects Mirantis OpenStack for private cloud build

Volkswagen Group has emerged as the latest high-profile user of the OpenStack platform, with the car manufacturer outlining plans to include the software in its wider hybrid cloud strategy.

The open source cloud operating system (OS) will be used to stand up a mix of business and consumer-facing applications in the company’s private cloud. This will be used by the firm’s supplier and dealer networks, as well as the other brands that make up the Volkswagen Group.

The firm selected the Mirantis distribution of OpenStack for the project, declaring it the fastest and most stable variant of the software it encountered during the selection process.  

It is also well-suited for use with Volkswagen Group’s Intel-based infrastructure, the company added, and will support the firm’s internet of things (IoT) and big data analytics initiatives.

Mario Müller, vice-president of IT infrastructure at Volkswagen Group, said the Mirantis flavour of OpenStack will position the firm to adopt a more agile-friendly software development strategy.

“As the automotive industry shifts to the service economy, Volkswagen is poised for agile software innovation. The team at Mirantis gives us a robust, hardened distribution, deep technical expertise, a commitment to the OpenStack community and the ability to drive cloud transformation at Volkswagen,” he said.

Sebastian Weiss, Dach regional director at Mirantis, added: “Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe, and Volkswagen is its champion.”

“The world will be watching as they use OpenStack to accelerate existing business functions, and to onramp new technologies, business ideas and models such as IoT, machine learning and big data analytics.”

Computer Weekly understands the project is part of a wider push by Volkswagen to ramp up its use of both private and public cloud technologies. This is so its application development teams can benefit from faster access to compute resources, rather than having to rely on lengthier, on-premise procurement cycles.

“In the automotive industry, it is broadly accepted that the all cars will be connected to the cloud in the near term. As this moves forward, automakers will increasingly compete and differentiate through software. 

“We are building Mirantis OpenStack based infrastructure to help us embrace these future realities,” a Volkswagen spokesperson told Computer Weekly.