Hewlett Packard Enterprise to swallow SimpliVity for $650m

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is set to acquire SimpliVity, furthering its presence in the hyperconvergence market.

SimpliVity, which was founded in 2009, specialises in software-defined, hyperconverged infrastructure and competes with the likes of Nutanix.

According to HPE, the $650 million cash deal will bring several new technologies to its existing hyperconverged infrastructure portfolio, including simplified built-in enterprise data protection and resiliency, efficient enterprise storage and virtualisation, always-on compression and de-duplication with guaranteed 90% capacity savings across storage and backup, and policy-based VM-centric management to simplify operations and increase data mobility.

Announcing the deal, HPE CEO Meg Whitman said: "This transaction expands HPE's software-defined capability and fits squarely within our strategy to make hybrid IT simple for customers.

"More and more customers are looking for solutions that bring them secure, highly resilient, on-premises infrastructure at cloud economics. That's exactly where we're focused."

SimpliVity's CEO, Doron Kempel, added: "Over the past eight years we've been on an incredible journey and joining HPE is the logical next step for SimpliVity.

"HPE's broad sales reach, extensive partner channel, complementary technology and commitment to innovation will accelerate SimpliVity's journey and significantly strengthen our ability to deliver the best-in-class hybrid IT solutions our customers are looking for."

However, the acquisition of SimpliVity comes just weeks after another infrastructure giant, Huawei, announced it would be incorporating SimpliVity's OmniStack technology into its FusionServer range. It's unclear what effect, if any, this new deal will have on that agreement.

The deal, which is expected to complete by 30 April 2017, is the second purchase the company has made in the past six months. In August 2016, it strengthened its high-performance computing (HPC) offerings with the $275 million acquisition of SGI.

Picture: HPE CEO Meg Whitman, credit: Bigstock

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Jane McCallion is Managing Editor of ITPro and ChannelPro, specializing in data centers, enterprise IT infrastructure, and cybersecurity. Before becoming Managing Editor, she held the role of Deputy Editor and, prior to that, Features Editor, managing a pool of freelance and internal writers, while continuing to specialize in enterprise IT infrastructure, and business strategy.

Prior to joining ITPro, Jane was a freelance business journalist writing as both Jane McCallion and Jane Bordenave for titles such as European CEO, World Finance, and Business Excellence Magazine.