Developed in-house from the ground up and released in February 2019, Grey Matter is an enterprise-proven, universal service mesh networking platform offering zero-trust security, exceptional Layer 3, 4, and 7 visibility, unmatched business intelligence for modern governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) control, and automated performance optimization. Addressing many of the challenges introduced by a service-based architecture (SBA), Grey Matter combines proprietary algorithms with open source technologies, enabling granular service mesh-enabled observability, analytics, and automation to optimize traffic throughput across on-premises, multi-cloud, or hybrid environments with or without the use of Kubernetes.
Grey Matter At-a-Glance
The platform comprises an internally developed control plane for service-based architectures, and either an Envoy or Hashicorp Consul-based sidecar data plane with extended filters for east-west internal traffic routing. An API gateway controls north-south traffic flows. In addition, Grey Matter integrates with Open Policy Agent (OPA) for zero-trust, policy-based access control at every point on the mesh, and is flexible and open enough to interoperate with other service meshes.
Delivering a comprehensive audit-compliance engine and SPIFFE/SPIRE identity authorization out of the box, Grey Matter provides service audit compliance reporting without special instrumentation. (Note: SPIRE is a production-ready implementation of SPIFFE—the Secure Production Identity Framework for Everyone.) Real-time audit taps at Layers 3, 4, and 7 provide a single source of truth for every user and action on the mesh throughout the lifespan of each object.
Designed to treat proxy-based service mesh telemetry as a source of business intelligence, Grey Matter leverages AI and machine learning to analyze data, including Layers 3, 4, and 7 network insights, for automated performance optimization and resource control. Powered by recurrent neural autoencoders, Grey Matter’s anomaly detection capabilities capture minute operational inconsistencies, predict potential issues, and alert users to inconsistencies against normal operational patterns via an intuitive contextual UI to take remedial action.
Grey Matter is designed to be platform-agnostic and polyglot. The platform wraps existing IT investments in a ubiquitous Layer 3, 4, and 7 network, securely connecting existing operations support system and business support system (OSS/BSS) layers to cloud-native technologies. Capable of operating in any public, private, hybrid, or multi-cloud or container orchestration platform, Grey Matter comes with built-in support for K8s, AWS EKS, Azure AKS, OpenShift OCP, OKD, Konvoy, and bare metal. It is also container-agnostic, supporting Docker, CoreOS, OpenShift, Rancher, and other containers.
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Through the several tasks that we spent together in a professional environment, I have seen Chris accomplish things that many would consider impossible – both as a professional and technically – and neither has been a disappointment. Chris is a calculated risk-taker. He has an uncanny way of determining what the target market needs and has the capability of tweaking his designs and implementations accordingly. As a pragmatic leader and a realist, he can grasp ideas in a holistic manner and still pay attention to minor details. Chris has a well-deserved reputation as someone who is diligent and personable – two qualities that define him completely. As someone who is a creative thinker and possesses a can-do attitude, Chris is a pleasure to work with.
I’ve never met anyone who worked as hard as he did at learning and absorbing new skills and technologies and then applying them to his work. He’s a very fast learner and an asset to anyone who has the fortune to work with him.
Chris is always happy to contribute to a discussion or to an issue and is more than happy to lend a hand to both assist team members with their tasks or to lend his expertise in order to benefit the requestor. He is constantly providing knowledge transfer in a peer to peer manner, engaging others to work together to move a project forward or to resolve an issue. Most importantly, Chris is an open and honest communicator about whatever the topic of the moment is, something that is refreshing in today’s world. I could always count of Chris to lend his opinion or his ideas to any subject matter, and this becomes an important contribution for any team. Chris has tremendous talent and is a very hard working, team player. I would welcome Chris to my team at any point in the future.
We appreciated his work ethics and clarity of thought. His mind was always on the “next step” and kept us all on our toes.
Chris is an excellent worker with a driving pulse for new technology and leading the industry. His work ethic is second-to-none and his teaming with others always ensures fantastic collaboration with positive outcomes. I am confident that Chris will continue to drive new technology evolution in our industry.
Chris was an amazing colleague to work with. I admire his ability to understand very technical concepts as well as business and market driven ones. He has amazing stakeholder management skills, and has the ability to build relationships and manage working groups and teams. He is a true leader who is very passionate about whatever he is working on. His desire for framing strategic direction and leading execution would be an asset to any organization. I would welcome any opportunity to work with Chris again.
We hired Chris with high expectations. He quickly proved to be a good choice as he grasped new concepts exceptionally well and showed an aggressive personal learning regimen, surpassing his peers. I would highly recommend Chris in his future endeavors.
Chris is an exceptionally energetic individual, a talented thinker and an accomplished public speaker. He is a very rewarding person to work with due to the level of organization he brings to every project. He has vision and probity, a rare combination. I has been a great privilege to work with him.
Chris is a talented technologist with a keen eye for marketing. This combination of skills has been a powerful asset in his role. Over the course of the 4 years that I worked with Chris, he presented at numerous events & conferences, and was a thought leadership partner. He was pivotal in honing Myriad360’s mission and developing a cohesive strategy for the company. Chris earns my highest recommendation.
Chris was one of the go-to guys whenever there were complex problems. He has the knowledge, desire and potential to advance in any position he chooses. It was a pleasure working with him.
Chris is an engineer and leader of the highest caliber as demonstrated by his ongoing volunteer responsibilities within the Internet technical community and his unwavering drive.
Chris is one of the most brilliant technologists and charismatic speakers I’ve met in a long time. He’s an absolute creative, has a mind focused on solutions, and is driven by a deep belief in what he does. He’s both an inspirational leader and great colleague. I’d work with Chris again any day of the week.
Chris Grundemann was among the most energetic and competent members of our Council throughout his time as an elected member. I found(find) Chris a most thoughtful man who brought insight and experience to the role, but was also always a genuine and professional member exerting leadership with tact and good humor. I think highly of Chris both as a technical professional and community leader, but also as a trusted friend.
Chris consistently generates and delivers on new and creative ideas both within the guided bounds of a project or team goal as well as when left unbounded and allowed to explore. In addition Chris is a great team player willing to help whenever asked. Chris is also a competent and organized leader with great communication skills capable of managing projects from inception to completion.
Chris was always on top of current technology and how this technology would fit into his current network environment. Chris was a pleasure to work with and will be an asset to any organization lucky enough to hire him.
Chris is a great asset to any company. His dedication and drive for results makes him a consistent high achiever.
Chris is a superior problem-solver with great people skills and ability to ask the really hard questions. A team player who is engaged and approachable, I expect Chris will have significant impact in the tech industry.