Overview
Canonical Ltd is the company behind Ubuntu Linux, founded by Mark Shuttleworth. Simon Wardley worked at Canonical approximately 2008-2010, applying his mapping framework to cloud computing strategy.
Role in Wardley's Career
Canonical provided Wardley with the opportunity to apply his mapping framework in a competitive technology market. He reportedly helped drive Ubuntu from approximately 3% to 70% cloud OS market share over roughly 18 months. This became one of the key case studies demonstrating the framework's practical applicability.
Connection to Mapping
Wardley's work at Canonical illustrated several framework concepts: using evolution analysis to identify where the cloud computing market was heading, positioning Ubuntu to capture the commodity/utility computing shift, and using mapping to allocate limited resources effectively (the reported 500K GBP budget was modest for the scale of impact achieved).
Caveat: The specific market share figures and cost figures are drawn from Wardley's own accounts and have not been independently verified in available sources.