AIOps Startup with ‘Open’ Emphasis Raises Cash Posted on : Nov 23 - 2019

Tech investors are betting that automated IT operations will be among the first significant enterprise applications for AI.

Artificial intelligence for IT operations, or AIOps, and the application of machine learning to data is beginning to attract venture capital as investors look for nuts-and-bolts automation applications that will deliver quick returns on investment.

The latest beneficiary is BigPanda, an autonomous operations startup, which this week announced a $50 million funding round. The Series C investment will be used to extend its “open” AIOps platform from IT and network operations through to DevOps teams.

BigPanda, Mountain View, Calif., said the round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Sequoia, Battery Ventures and Mayfield Fund. The AIOps startup has so far raised more than $120 million.

BigPanda’s value proposition is filling the gap between legacy tools and the issues faced by IT, network and DevOps teams attempting to support hybrid cloud deployments and emerging cloud-native applications. Those architectures bring with them complexity and velocity that are outstripping operators’ ability to keep pace.

The result, the startup says, are more frequent incidents and outages that last longer with broader impact on overall operations.

BigPanda’s platform includes “open box” (as opposed to “black box”) machine learning that provides operators with a measure of explainable AI that is touted as offering more control and “testability.” That feature addresses skepticism among some early adopters who expressed doubts about the reliability of recommendations delivered by AIOps tools. View More