Rackspace and NASA launched OpenStack in 2010. Researchers at the NASA Ames Research Center first developed the base components of OpenStack, called NOVA, to provide the U.S. space and aeronautical agency with a highly scalable private cloud.

Since the 2010 launch, more than 100 organizations have contributed to the code base or participated in the project in some other form. Both Dell and Hewlett-Packard are building commercial cloud products using OpenStack as a base. A number of startups, including Internap, Nebula and Piston Cloud Computing, have been created to vend OpenStack-based products and services as well.

Organizations such as Disney, Sony, Fidelity and the CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research all have used the software to build private clouds. Rackspace also uses the software to support pieces of its own operations.

"When you look at really successful open-source projects, the least common denominator is always a great governance process and an independent foundation that acts in the interest of the community," said Chris Kemp, who is CEO of Nebula and was the NASA Ames chief information officer who managed the development of NOVA.

The foundation should ensure that OpenStack remains an open platform, from which many companies can innovate and compete, he said. "The interests of the whole will effectively guide the project," Kemp said.