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Hewlett-Packard Enterprise has acquired a key connective technology for how enterprises deploy artificial intelligence and big data analytics in their applications.
The company announced an agreement Nov. 27 to purchase BlueData, which will help expand HPE’s product lineup in the fast-growing AI and analytics software markets. Terms of the transaction were not made available; it is expected to close within HPE’s first fiscal quarter, which ends Jan. 31.
BlueData, which offers a new-gen big-data-as-a-service (BDaaS) software platform, recently made available a new environment for AI and machine-learning developers to try out new ideas and have fun testing them. This is a new turnkey package that enables accelerated deployment of artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning applications in the enterprise.
The BlueData AI/ML Accelerator, introduced last May, includes the software and professional services to deploy containerized multi-node sandbox environments for exploratory use cases with TensorFlow and other ML/DL tools, the 6-year-old Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said.
Uses Docker containers to microservices deployments
BlueData’s EPIC platform uses Docker container technology to make it more efficient for enterprises to innovate with AI and Big Data technologies – either on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid architecture. Using BlueData, they can spin up containerized environments within minutes, providing data scientists with on-demand access to the applications, data and infrastructure they need.
Thus, HPE was able to fill several holes in its product line with this acquisition.
As the volume of data continues to grow exponentially, companies are increasingly investing in the hardware, software, and services needed to gain actionable insights from it. By 2022, the total addressable market for artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and big data is expected to grow to approximately $160 billion, according to industry analysts.
However, not all organizations will have the AI and data literacy skills needed to extract business value and actionable insights from their data, and demand is increasing for faster and more cost-effective solutions that can easily deploy AI/ML and big data analytics, HPE said.
Designed for bringing agility to app deployments
BlueData’s software platform uses a container approach to make it simpler and more cost-effective to deploy large-scale machine learning and big data analytics environments. By combining BlueData’s software platform with HPE’s existing software-defined infrastructure, HPE claims it can help users by providing an all-encompassing and easy-to-implement solution for AI/ML and big data analytics.
With this container-based solution, HPE said, customers can improve agility for their data science teams and potentially reduce their infrastructure costs significantly.
For more information about the acquisition and HPE’s plans for BlueData, go here.