News Corp Taps Loudcloud

Adding to the list of recent customer wins and strategic partnerships, including AOL, Oracle, and Cognizant, Loudcloud today added Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to the list.

The media company will outsource its Internet operations to the infrastructure service provider, with FOXSPORTS.com, FOXNEWS.com, and FOX.com among the first sites to be deployed, scaled, managed and monitored using Loudcloud’s Opsware technology.

Loudcloud, which began its first day of trading today at $6, expected to raise $150 million in its IPO. At mid-day, Loudcloud’s stock (NASDAQ:LDCL) was trading at $6.344. See related story on internet.com’s Internet Stock Report, Loudcloud IPO Won’t Make Much Noise, March 5, 2001.

Loudcloud was formed in September 1999 by some of the Internet’s early entrepreneurs, including Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen and former Netscape/AOL executives Ben Horowitz, Tim Howes and In Sik Rhee. Loudcloud offers businesses Internet infrastructure services required to provision, deploy, maintain and scale Internet operations.

Loudcloud’s Smart Cloud services enable businesses to benefit from reliable, high-quality and scalable Internet operations without undertaking the difficulty and expense associated with building the required expertise in-house. These Smart Cloud services leverage Loudcloud’s proprietary Opsware automation technology to deliver scalability and reliability for a broad base of customers.

“The ability to consolidate our Web hosting costs with a single vendor – Loudcloud – will save News Corporation a significant amount of money over the next few years,” said Lachlan Murdoch, News Corporation’s deputy chief operating officer. “Loudcloud’s technical expertise and software automation technology made it a clear choice as our operations partner. Now, we have the resources to focus on creating compelling content and delivering new services to our viewers and customers.”

News Corporation’s Internet sites around the world experience tens of millions of page views per month. News Corporation selected Loudcloud for the innovation and quality of its proprietary Opsware automation technology, and for the depth and experience of its leadership.

“News Corporation’s portfolio of Internet properties are among the most dynamic on the Internet,” said Marc Andreessen, chairman and co-founder of Loudcloud. “We are delighted they have joined the list of media companies that have selected Loudcloud to provide the underlying infrastructure for their Internet efforts.”

Loudcloud manages its infrastructure network via a worldwide network of data centers and Network Operations Centers (NOCs) located in North America and Europe.