CloudHealth, $4.5M in Tow, Looks to Run Networking Playbook on the Cloud

Let’s get the name question out of the way first. CloudHealth Technologies is not a health IT company. It is a cloud infrastructure and analytics startup, aimed at helping software companies manage their business.

Not sure that’s much clearer, but we’ll explain why they chose that name in a minute. Boston-based CloudHealth, a young startup, has emerged from stealth mode today saying it has raised $4.5 million in Series A funding from .406 Ventures and Sigma Prime Ventures.

The company is led by CEO and co-founder Dan Phillips, the former CEO of SilverBack Technologies (bought by Dell in 2007) and former chief operating officer of Concord Communications. The other co-founders are engineering guru Joe Kinsella, formerly of Sonian and SilverBack, and finance expert Dave Eicher, previously with GenArts and SilverBack.

Interestingly, CloudHealth was previously called CloudPercept, but it sounds like Phillips had something to do with changing it. Back in the 1990s, Concord Communications’ product was called Network Health. And in fact, CloudHealth is trying to take lessons learned from the networking boom of the ‘90s and apply them to the cloud.

As Phillips explains, 20 years ago companies were getting networked together, and Cisco and Nortel cashed in on the first wave of network-deployment tools. Then, once corporate networks were up and running, there was a second wave of tools for troubleshooting and repairs. After that came more business-focused offerings, including those from Concord and SilverBack.

Cloud computing is entering a similar third phase, Phillips says. There are a lot of open-source troubleshooting tools for all the software companies running applications in the cloud, but now “infrastructure becomes more of a business concern,” he says.

Here’s why. Software-as-a-service companies depend on cloud computing for their tech infrastructure, including app hosting, development, customer information, and so on. Companies use Amazon, Rackspace, or other cloud providers, but these vendors don’t provide a lot of business insights.

CloudHealth offers what it calls “business performance management” software. That means giving companies the tools to

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Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.