Socrata Deploys Opscode to Manage and Scale Growth in the Adoption of the Socrata Open Data Platform™ across Government
Open Data Services Provider Relies on Cloud Infrastructure Automation to Securely Manage Data Center Configurations and Expand Auditability
SEATTLE, Wash – October 10, 2011 - Opscode, Inc., the leader in cloud infrastructure automation, today announced that Socrata, the leading developer and provider of Open Data Services, has implemented Opscode's Hosted Chef (OHC) to help securely automate configuration management and expand auditability in its data center operations. Adoption of the Socrata Open Data PlatformTM has grown over 400 percent in 2011 while achieving compliance with stringent Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) guidelines. Hosted Chef allows Socrata to more easily and quickly obtain FISMA authorizations to operate (ATOs), reducing compliance time from months to weeks.
"As our sophisticated cloud-based infrastructure grows, manual configuration and maintenance becomes nearly impossible. Prior to using Hosted Chef, we had a patchwork of automation scripts that were becoming increasingly difficult to maintain with the rapid pace of growth in customer launches and the volume of data under management on our platform," said Paul Paradise, senior site reliability engineer for Socrata. "Hosted Chef enables us to securely scale our configuration management automation as a virtual on-demand capability, which saves us weeks of operational time and eliminates unnecessary infrastructure. It allows Socrata to focus our resources on helping customers turn their data into a strategic asset at a low cost of operation, while we manage the secure, redundant infrastructure needed to accommodate growing consumption of their data."
Socrata is a developer and provider of Open Data Services, a category of cloud-based Web 2.0 solutions that enable federal, state, and local governments to dramatically improve the reach, usability and social utility of their public information assets. Socrata manages multiple datacenters that handle its Open Data cloud operations including more than 30 customers spanning all levels of government. In order for its customers to be in full compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002 and to receive authorization to operate (ATO), Socrata relies on Opscode's Hosted Chef for a more auditable and secure system to comply with security and configuration management policies.
Opscode's Hosted Chef combines the freedom and flexibility of Chef with the reliability and speed of Opscode. Hosted Chef makes it easy to deploy servers and scale applications throughout an entire infrastructure. Because it combines the fundamental elements of configuration management and service oriented architectures with the full power of Ruby, Hosted Chef makes it easy to create a fully automated infrastructure. This automation allows Socrata to manage a growing number of operating nodes with ease, and allows their small staff to focus on innovation and service, rather than infrastructure support. Hosted Chef also enabled Paradise's team to launch their Chicago data center – which nearly doubled the number of machines involved – within a matter of days because the configuration or recipes were already written and auto-configured in Chef.
"The ability to fully automate data center infrastructure is integral for leading cloud providers, such as Socrata, whose innovative engineering teams split their time between internet-scale backend management and user-experience innovation," said Adam Jacob, chief product officer, for Opscode. "Opscode's tools ensure companies maximize their resources and more efficiently manage platform configuration with increased agility and reliability."
About Opscode
Opscode is the leader in cloud infrastructure automation. We help companies of all sizes develop fully automated server infrastructures that scale easily and predictably; can be quickly rebuilt in any environment; and save developers and systems engineer's time and money. Opscode's team is comprised of web infrastructure experts responsible for building and operating some of the world's largest websites and cloud computing platforms. Opscode is headquartered in Seattle.
Learn more about Opscode
About Socrata
Socrata is the leading developer and provider of Open Data Services, a category of cloud-based Web 2.0 solutions that enable federal, state, and local governments to dramatically improve the reach, usability and usefulness of their public information assets.
The Socrata Open Data Platform™ is an information delivery platform that optimizes the management and timely dissemination of relevant information and data-driven services to citizen, professional and internal government audiences, in self-service mode and across multiple channels. Information assets include tabular data, geospatial data, unstructured content and real-time data from government transactional systems of record.
Socrata customers include cities such as Seattle, Edmonton, Chicago and Baltimore, states such as Oregon, Illinois and Oklahoma, and federal agencies such as Medicare, SAMHSA and GSA (Data.gov). Socrata is a private company, based in Seattle, Washington, with venture financing from Frazier Technology Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures. To learn more about Socrata, visit www.socrata.com.