The success of information technology companies is driven by their ability to innovate. The benefits of moving first also stand to be the greatest in this industry. Some companies try to add to their service portfolio by acquiring other IT companies that possess differentiating products. The recent move by Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) to acquire VeloBit makes the company fall under this category.
How does the acquisition of VeloBit benefit Western Digital?
VeloBit is expected to increase storage system performance through more efficient usage of processor and storage resources. This is achieved through an added transparent acceleration layer that utilizes solid-state drives (SSDs) to boost performance.
Together with VeloBit’s SSD caching software, HGST will now be better equipped to supply corporations with low latency and high IOPS solutions for larger density. This purchase augments with Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC)’s proposed sTec acquisition for HGST. It also highlights Western Digital’s eagerness to enter the enterprise SSD space. The current acquisition of VeloBit, along with the proposed purchase of sTec, should add to HGST’s technology standing and IP portfolio, with supplementary engineering and design resources.
Source: Western Digital Acquires VeloBit for Integration into HGST
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) is currently implementing a strategy to enhance value of datacenter storage products on the whole. The acquisition of VeloBit is a partial way to achieve the company’s targeted goal.
VeloBit adds immense efficiency with five times higher number of desktops being run at three times lower the cost, while the average boot time would reduce by 11 times. This purchase has also increased the range of Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC)’s service offerings in the high growth enterprise solid-state storage market.
Solid-state runs store data on microchips that command hard drives, rather than magnetic platters. They are usually thought of as faster and more dependable, though at an increased cost.
The acquisition is aimed at catering to the customers’ needs. This is planned to be achieved through tightly integrating storage optimization software with the hardware.
Where do competitors stand?
EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) also has its operations centered around developing and delivering information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure technologies, solutions, and services. EMC recently introduced a range of new products. The new data domain systems will provide four times more efficient performance.
It is expected to provide 27 times more scalability compared to rival companies. Customers will be able to remove storage silos by merging backup and archive data on one storage platform. Cloud backups will now be easier to scale and manage, utilizing the new features included in Mozy.
EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) also acquired privately held Aveksa. This will extend EMC’s RSA’s vision of Adaptive IAM. Its purpose is to convert traditional static systems into efficient and scalable “situational perimeters” to assist corporations in managing user lifecycles and access across corporate and cloud environments.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) is also a key player in the industry. The company looks forward to investing $15 million in ecosystem sales collaboration and technology integration with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to speed up the implementation of corporate cloud deployments. The NetApp Partner Program supplements the company’s current offerings in the Microsoft Cloud OS Acceleration program.
