A Web console has also been added to this release that's "a much more visual and easier to use point and click interface", said Pang, and is meant to help address HPC cluster management challenges, traditionally a roadblock to adoption of the technology.

The vendor-specific approach that OCS assumes, said Darin Stahl, lead analyst with London, Ont.-based Info-Tech Research Group Ltd., is likely to help with Platform's market penetration even among heterogeneous data centers. "It's not that you couldn't use the platform solution on any other servers," said Stahl, "you can but they've done this tight integration and an out-of-the box solution means that for deployment, you're going to... remove a lot of inefficiency."

Moreover, HPC requires specialized skill that is typically not core to most IT departments, continued Stahl, therefore a pre-integrated product will shortcut much of the lengthy integration time and often steep learning curve for data centers new to HPC.

Platform OCS's capability to integrate with third-party management applications, said Stahl, will grant a "more complete view" when running clusters to ensure that application performance is evenly balanced across the board. In particular, integration with flexible open source third-party management tools, he added, will allow the necessary freedom to customize the deployment for specific applications and problems that may arise.

Platform OCS is targeted at a range of industries including industrial manufacturing, life sciences, government and research, oil and gas, and financial services.