GigaSpaces, sponsor of the open source Cloudify cloud orchestration project, today launched an online training program for cloud architects and application developers interested in learning more about the TOSCA templating language (Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications from OASIS), as well as how to implement the Cloudify project in their cloud deployments. 

The Cloudify Learning Management System (LMS) kicks off today with its first course, "Introduction to TOSCA." The course covers the fundamentals of TOSCA orchestration and how it is implemented in the Cloudify project. The course contains eight modules, four theoretical and four hands-on labs, enabling users to learn the TOSCA syntax and language through interactive learning.

The Cloudify LMS is being unveiled today at the OpenStack Israel event.

The Cloudify LMS offers full-scale online training sessions, including integrated labs for deploying and managing an application through TOSCA blueprints, where learners can explore and test drive a live environment. The Cloudify LMS provides feedback on application performance and offers guidance on how to improve.

GigaSpaces has been an ongoing supporter of the TOSCA project, with representation on the project's technical committee and ongoing support for implementation of the TOSCA standard as a blueprint for how orchestration of cloud-native applications and virtualized network functions (VNFs) should be managed. In February, GigaSpaces launched the open source ARIA project, which brings TOSCA technology to next-generation networks built on network functions virtualization technology.

"One of our goals is to make TOSCA more accessible to those integrating it into their projects," said Nati Shalom, CTO of GigaSpaces. "We kick-started this with the ARIA initiative, providing an open source reference implementation of TOSCA that can be integrated into any project. Launching the Cloudify LMS is another step toward our goal of removing barriers to learning and adopting TOSCA in a variety of applications. The 2016 NFV Infrastructure and MANO Report by SDx Central shows that a lack of education remains a major barrier to adoption. The Cloudify LMS is intended to address this."

The Cloudify LMS is built on the Open edX based hastexo Academy platform by hastexo, a long-time GigaSpaces partner specializing in consulting and training services on open-source distributed infrastructure technology. The Open edX platform was developed at MIT and Harvard University. It serves more than 4 million users worldwide.

"Cloudify LMS opens a whole new perspective into cloud orchestration," said Florian Haas, CEO of hastexo. "This is the first time interested application designers and developers can get immediate hands-on experience with Cloudify and TOSCA, with no upfront commitment, hardware investment, or even wait time. This is an excellent growth opportunity for the community, and we're extremely happy to support our friends from GigaSpaces in this journey."