Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is acquiring the supercomputer leader Cray in a deal worth $1.3 billion. The company aims to address the challenges driven by the explosion of data.
Cray holds its position among the top 100 supercomputer installations globally. Founded in 1972, Cray provides high-end supercomputing solutions for challenging and data-intensive workloads. The company delivers its supercomputing systems through the current generation XC and CS platforms, as well as the Shasta series platform.
The supercomputing leader recently announced an Exascale supercomputer contract with the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The contract was valued at over $600 million, enabling innovative research and AI at scale.
HPE will combine the deep supercomputing capabilities of Cray with its cutting-edge technologies, stepping ahead on the strategy to tackle the most data-intensive challenges of customers.
Modern technologies like AI, machine learning, big data and analytics, and the changing demands of customers for data-intensive workloads are exploding the amount of data generation. This is driving the expansion of high-performance computing (HPC).
With Cray acquisition, HPE will establish a broad portfolio of computing, storage, interconnect, software and services in the HPC and AI segments.
HPE already sees HPC as a key element of its vision and growth strategy. It provides a number of HPC solutions, which include HPE Apollo and SGI. The company will now be well positioned to strengthen its existing portfolio with the foundational technologies of Cray.
“Answers to some of society’s most pressing challenges are buried in massive amounts of data,” said Antonio Neri, President and CEO, HPE.
“Only by processing and analyzing this data will we be able to unlock the answers to critical challenges across medicine, climate change, space and more. Cray is a global technology leader in supercomputing and shares our deep commitment to innovation. By combining our world-class teams and technology, we will have the opportunity to drive the next generation of high performance computing and play an important part in advancing the way people live and work.”
Further, the companies together will be able to reach more segments of the market, to provide a wide range of solutions to enterprise, academic, and government customers.
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“This is an amazing opportunity to bring together Cray’s leading-edge technology and HPE’s wide reach and deep product portfolio, providing customers of all sizes with integrated solutions and unique supercomputing technology to address the full spectrum of their data-intensive needs,” said Peter Ungaro, President and CEO of Cray.
“HPE and Cray share a commitment to customer-centric innovation and a vision to create the global leader for the future of high performance computing and AI. On behalf of the Cray Board of Directors, we are pleased to have reached an agreement that we believe maximizes value and are excited for the opportunities that this unique combination will create for both our employees and our customers.”
The transaction will close by the first quarter of HPE’s fiscal year 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
