HPE to acquire Nimble Storage for $1.2bn to strengthen flash storage portfolio for hybrid IT

USA: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nimble Storage for $1.2 billion.

Nimble was founded in 2007 and has approximately 1,300 employees worldwide. Nimble’s strong application performance in its entry to midrange flash storage solutions is backed by an intelligent, predictive analytics engine that delivers a simplified customer experience. In addition, Nimble has recently introduced multicloud storage services that combine on-premises and public cloud storage capabilities for Hybrid IT deployments.

Nimble’s predictive flash offerings for the entry to midrange segments are complementary to HPE’s scalable midrange to high-end 3PAR solutions and affordable MSA products. Besides, flash storage is a fast-growing market and an increasingly important element of today’s hybrid IT environment. This deal will enable HPE to deliver a full range of superior flash storage solutions for customers across every segment.

HPE also plans to incorporate Nimble’s InfoSight Predictive Analytics platform across its storage portfolio, which will enable a stronger, simplified support experience for HPE customers.

“Nimble Storage’s portfolio complements and strengthens our current 3PAR products in the high-growth flash storage market and will help us deliver on our vision of making Hybrid IT simple for our customers,” said Meg Whitman, President and CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “And, this acquisition is exactly aligned with the strategy and capital allocation approach we’ve laid out. We remain focused on high-growth and higher-margin segments of the market.”

“Customers deploying hybrid IT not only need the performance of flash storage but are looking for predictive intelligence to optimize their infrastructure,” said Antonio Neri, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Enterprise Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “With Nimble Storage and 3PAR, we can now deliver on those storage needs and provide more effective on-premises control and performance, at public cloud economics.”

“Over 10,000 enterprises are using Nimble Storage because our Predictive Cloud Platform is reliably fast, radically simple, and cloud ready,” said Suresh Vasudevan, CEO at Nimble Storage. “This acquisition validates our technology leadership in flash and in the use of cloud-based predictive analytics.  We’re confident that by combining Nimble Storage’s technology leadership with HPE’s global distribution strength, strong brand, and enterprise relationships, we’re creating expansion opportunities for the combined company.”

By bringing together complementary product portfolios and leveraging HPE’s expansive go-to-market capability, partner ecosystem, and leading server platform, HPE and Nimble will be able to significantly accelerate the financial performance of the combined business.