FreshTracks.io, the latest CA Technologies software incubator project

CA Technologies has announced the open registration for the FreshTracks.io beta programme, an innovation stemming from the CA Accelerator programme. This brings the total of startups currently enrolled in the incubator to 10.

CA Accelerator incubations function like lean startups within the company, where internal innovators receive support and funding to develop and test new product ideas in the marketplace.

As CA’s engineers sought to monitor their evolving microservices with existing solutions, the idea for FreshTracks was born. FreshTracks.io was founded to solve the real problems experienced in monitoring and scaling containerised applications. Leveraging CA’s expertise in the container space, the FreshTracks.io team started with a clean slate, enabling their teams to focus on the problem from the perspective of the customer experience, rather than existing legacy tools.

Utilising open source technology as the foundation, the team layered in machine learning to build a self-learning monitoring system capable of real-time intelligent alerting. The result was a cost-effective, fast-to-market solution for teams serious about container operations, particularly teams using Prometheus together with Kubernetes. This is the fourth container-focused project arising from the CA Accelerator.

According to CA, current container monitoring tools do a good job collecting metrics about the state of applications, but they fall short when providing dynamic anomaly detection to allow engineers to act based on those metrics. FreshTracks.io uses machine learning to provide intelligent alerts enabling applications to be highly available. Actionable alerts ensure engineers spend more time where it matters.

“The CA Accelerator culture values innovation and is changing the way we think about solving customer challenges. Through our own experiences, we realised the need for container monitoring and made our own solution to share with others who are facing similar challenges,” said Bob Cotton, co-founder of FreshTracks.io. “We are excited about the market opportunity in this emerging area for developers, and it was the flexibility and resources of the Accelerator programme that made FreshTracks.io a reality.”

Rather than relying on the traditional innovation model of making a few big investments on long-term development projects that can miss opportunities due to lock-in and/or flawed assumptions, the CA Accelerator nurtures many small projects that can rapidly work their way to success.

The programme’s Incubation Rotation helps mitigate risks for employees transferring into the CA Accelerator. During the 12-month rotation, the CA employee’s position is held within the company, allowing the employee to develop his or her business, while providing the freedom to pursue creative ideas to the fullest extent. Over 100 CA employees have joined the programme to date.

Born in 2016, the CA Accelerator helps drive and foster the company’s culture to be more agile and innovative. CA Jarvis, an internal analytics engine and the CA Accelerator’s most successful project to date, has been integrated into CA’s Agile Operations, API Management and Security lines of business.

“When we started the CA Accelerator programme last year, it was not just to bring innovative ideas to life within the company,” said Otto Berkes, CTO, CA Technologies. “We also wanted to ensure that the CA Accelerator could serve as a North Star guiding us through the accelerating cultural and technological shifts we are seeing within the industry. Seeing our incubation teams and our customers collaborating closely to solve tomorrow’s challenges is deeply gratifying.”

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