ActiveState has announced the general availability of Stackato, its cloud application platform designed to create private PasS implementations using any language, on any stack, on any cloud. Stackato's list of core functions is broad; its makers specify suitability for developers looking to develop, deploy, migrate, scale, manage, and monitor applications in virtualized cloud environments.

ActiveState CEO Bart Copeland says that Stackato delivers on the "real" promise of the cloud; i.e., convenience and cost-efficiency, but with the security, control, and compliance that real-world use cases demand.

"With Stackato, developers can simulate a production environment on a local machine, code, test, and then launch an application to any cloud. Enterprise IT can achieve new levels of data security, reduce time to market, save money, ensure compliance, and gain greater control over the cloud," said Copeland.

Stackato supports three key functional objectives for developers; the first is the opportunity to setup and auto-configure a private PaaS on top of a private cloud or IaaS. Second, Stackato works to deploy new (and migrate existing) applications to the cloud. Finally, the product can manage updates and upgrades as it also monitors application performance.

Stackato's web-based management console provides administrative control, plus there is a new app store offering common applications. A persistent file system service enables compatibility with applications like Drupal — and performance monitoring technology from New Relic delivers application management visibility.

"Stackato is about freedom, control, and ROI," continues Copeland. "Developers have the freedom to work with multiple stacks; use the best-suited tools; configure, test, and deploy faster; and ultimately build more apps. IT managers get control — they can create new apps and migrate existing ones; eliminate the risks of data silos or rogue clouds; ensure tighter security and compliance; and deploy to the cloud model that's right for their enterprise, whether that cloud is public, private, or a hybrid of both."

Copeland also argues that CIOs get a better return on investment with more efficient, private-PaaS app development, meaning shorter time-to-market and better use of resources.