The #CloudWars are pitting two very different models against each other, and ServiceMesh is the form-changer that is enlisted in both armies. Enterprise cloud adoption is a transformative shift where the greatest implementation challenges are often more about people and process than technology integration. As a enterprise grade cloud management platform, ServiceMesh services both private and public cloud solutions. Shawn Douglas, CTO at ServiceMesh, stops by theCUBE to discuss all things AWS, OpenStack and open source cloud solutions.

John Furrier – Founder, SiliconANGLE and Jeff Frick, co-host theCUBE, focused their questioning around around infrastructure-level cloud services. ServiceMesh enables enterprises to go after a hybrid cloud solution. They model themselves as a single, purpose-built platform. The interesting play for ServiceMesh is that they are cloud agnostic. This means public or private cloud, ServiceMesh can deploy their management platform on both.

Frick asked Douglas, what is this hybrid cloud for the enterprise?

Fundamentally I believe that private cloud or public cloud is where we are today, says Douglas. Cloud brokers enables you to have vendor contestability across the cloud based operating model. The CIO gets this, it’s huge.

You have to love a fired-up interviewee. Cloud offerings change what was once a 9 month timeline to deploy a new application, with the ability to now spin that up on demand. Accelerate business while reducing the time to value in applications. Douglas compared it to an application-focused model vs. a virtual machine spinner-upper. ServiceMesh further inserts itself into both private and public cloud offerings with its service, offering role-based control within the application.

Infrastructure as code is what OpenStack and the #CloudWars pioneered. Douglas and ServiceMesh believes it’s all about trust. Automation is about trust. We’re getting to a point in the industry where people trust the automation tools to do things at scale.  This is a key differentiator between OpenStack and AWS (Amazon Web Services).  AWS is taking away the Ops in DevOps, waging a longterm war on enterprise software. They are used to living in a 3 percent margin, so they are attacking what has historically been a 90 percent margin, and commoditizing infrastructure.

Whether you’re #TeamOpenStack or #TeamAWS, there is likelihood that you’re going to need a solution that automates the deployment and management of enterprise applications across private, public and hybrid cloud environments. That means you’ll have a need for a solution like ServiceMesh. They’ve positioned themselves pretty snugly in the #CloudWars…seemingly dating both sides.