HPE agreed to acquire Plexxi, a developer of software-defined data fabric networking technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.
HPE said it intends to integrate Plexxi technology into its own hyperconverged solutions, where Plexxi will build on HPE’s acquisition of SimpliVity last year.
Plexxi, which was founded in 2010 and is based in Nashua, NH, is a provider of Hyperconverged Networking (HCN) solutions. The company said its strength is in combining software-defined topologies and intent-based automation with workload and infrastructure awareness. Its portfolio includes:
- PLEXXI CONNECT — an event-based workflow automation platform for data centers. It drives the Plexxi fabric.
- PLEXXI CONTROL — workload-driven network fabric orchestration software for enterprise data centers. It offers full network management and visualization
- PLEXXI SWITCHES — a line of high-density 10/25/40/50/100GBE access switches offering up to 3.2 Tbps switching capacity in a 1 RU box.
Plexxi is headed by Rich Napolitano (CEO), who previously was head of EMC’s Unified Storage Division. Prior to EMC, Rich led both sales and engineering, and acted as both founder and venture capitalist across companies like Sun Microsystems, Pirus Networks, and Alchemy Angels. Plexxi was founded by Dave Husak (CTO) and co-founded by Mat Mathews (VP of Product Management).
- In January 2016, Plexxi disclosed a strategic investment from GV (formerly Google Ventures). Other Plexxi investors have included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.
HPE to Acquire SimpliVity for Hyperconverged Infrastructure Products
Hewlett Packard Enterprise agreed to acquire SimpliVity, a start-up offering software-defined, hyperconverged infrastructure, for $650 million in cash.
SimpliVity, which is privately held, was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Westborough, MA. The company’s software-defined, hyperconverged infrastructure is designed from the ground up to meet the needs of enterprise customers who require on-premises technology infrastructure with enterprise-class performance, data protection, and resiliency, at cloud economics.
HPE said the SimpliVity portfolio enables it offer a rich set of enterprise data services across hyperconverged, 3PAR storage, composable infrastructure and multi-cloud offerings.
“This transaction expands HPE’s software-defined capability and fits squarely within our strategy to make Hybrid IT simple for customers,” said Meg Whitman, President and CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “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.”
