We are an official
OpenNebula partner

When a single vendor
stops being the answer to everything

A few years ago, the market was living in a comfortable status quo: VMware was the de facto standard for enterprise virtualization, and most organizations built their infrastructure around a single stack. That changed in 2023–2024, when Broadcom's acquisition of VMware brought a sharp shift in licensing models — and with it, renewal invoices that no one had budgeted for.

That's when we at HorizonTech started hearing the same question from clients far more often: "Is there something just as reliable, but without being tied to a single vendor?" The answer we kept giving with growing confidence was OpenNebula.

We had been working with the platform for a while. But in 2025 we took the next step — becoming official OpenNebula Connect partners. This isn't just a certificate on a webpage. It's a commitment: to bring clients in Kazakhstan the level of expertise and support that used to be available only through large Western integrators.

OpenNebula: не хайп,
а 15 лет production

OpenNebula has been around since 2008. While other platforms appeared, merged, and disappeared, it steadily evolved as a tool built for people who need actual work done — not marketing slides. Today it's a mature platform for managing private, public, and hybrid clouds — fully open-source under Apache 2.0.

The key differentiator from competitors is zero vendor lock-in by design. OpenNebula works equally well with KVM, VMware vCenter, and LXC. It doesn't require specific hardware, doesn't lock you into a single cloud provider, and doesn't dictate which storage to use. This means the organization retains full control over its infrastructure — now and in the future.

Version 7.0 "Phoenix" is no cosmetic update. It includes native support for AI workloads and GPU (certified with NVIDIA), live storage migration, NetApp and PureStorage integration, and a redesigned VMware migration tool called OneSwap. The platform is also part of the European IPCEI-CIS initiative — a sovereign cloud infrastructure program with a €3 billion budget, involving Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, SAP, and dozens of other organizations.

What it means
to be a partner in practice

Official partner status is, above all, a responsibility. We own the full cycle: from the first conversation about whether you even need a cloud, to launching infrastructure in production and supporting it long-term.

• Audit and design. We analyze your existing infrastructure, identify bottlenecks, and design an architecture that addresses your specific needs — not a generic template from a slide deck.
• VMware migration. We use the OneSwap tool to convert and transfer virtual machines with minimal downtime. We have hands-on experience running these migrations.
• Deployment and configuration. OpenNebula installation in high-availability mode, storage and network setup, Active Directory integration, and corporate monitoring systems.
• IaaS on our own infrastructure. If building your own cloud isn't the right move yet — we provide virtual servers powered by OpenNebula in our infrastructure, billed by actual consumption.
• Training and support. We transfer knowledge to your team and stay involved — with the ability to escalate directly to OpenNebula Systems engineers.

Why this matters
right now

Kazakhstan is actively moving toward digital sovereignty. Data localization requirements, the development of national cloud platforms, and the push to reduce dependence on foreign software — all of this creates a very concrete demand for infrastructure solutions that organizations control themselves.

OpenNebula is not a random choice here. The platform was designed from the ground up for the scenario where an organization wants full sovereignty: knowing where data is stored, who has access to it, and how every layer of the infrastructure is built. That's why it's the platform of choice for government entities and regulated industries worldwide.

HorizonTech is the first company in Kazakhstan with official OpenNebula Connect partner status. This means Kazakhstani organizations now have a local partner that speaks the same language, understands local regulations, and works in direct contact with the platform's development team.

A cloud is not
a product, it's a decision

We don't sell cloud for the sake of cloud. We help organizations build infrastructure that works for them — not the other way around. The partnership with OpenNebula Systems gives us world-class tools and support to do that effectively.

If you're currently thinking about how to reduce dependence on proprietary solutions, how to migrate from VMware, or how to build a private cloud that meets regulatory requirements — we're ready to talk.