In a move to compete with Oracle and IBM in software, Hewlett-Packard has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Vertica Systems. Terms of the real-time analytics platform deal were not disclosed.
“In today’s highly competitive environment, customers need the ability to manage the increasing amounts of data and growing streams of information with more flexible, more dynamic architectures,” said Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer at HP. “Vertica’s unique platform combines simplicity with industry-leading performance, allowing HP to leap ahead of the industry in the race to analyze massive amounts of data.”
Vertica’s Impressive Pedigree
Leaping ahead of the industry may sound like puffery — and it may indeed be — but one thing is certain: HP’s acquisition of Vertica will beef up the company’s capabilities for information optimization. The Vertica technology will also give HP much-needed real-time business analytics for large and complex sets of data in physical, virtual and cloud environments.
“By combining Vertica’s offerings with HP’s brand and global reach, customers will benefit from the commitment, expertise and resources from the largest technology company in the world,” said Christopher Lynch, president and CEO of Vertica. “Combined with HP, we will be able to better help customers develop flexible business performance solutions that improve decision-making and streamline business processes.”
Vertica had a record-breaking year in 2010 for sales, customer wins, and head count. During 2010, Vertica saw both revenues and customers increase more than 100 percent, with 328 customers by the end of 2010. Vertica serves the likes of Twitter, AOL and Blue Cross Blue Shield with an architecture that lets users analyze massive amounts of data for real-time business intelligence.
HP’s Software Flurry
Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, called the acquisition “potentially interesting.” IBM has been on the analytics roll for the past five years, and Oracle is…