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Hitachi Data Systems Announces Intent to Acquire Pentaho

Hitachi Data Systems Announces Intent to Acquire Pentaho

Hitachi Data Systems Announces Intent to Acquire PentahoAs big data becomes more prevalent in the IT-Verse, we’ve seen traditional hardware and storage companies make big moves, trying to stay ahead of the curve of the big data boom. Not unlike how EMC recently invested serious capital in Pivotal, the acquisition of Pentaho by the Japanese giant Hitachi shows much more than the dollars and cents involved. This is yet another signal of an evolving trend away from standard hardware solutions; to more robust, efficient, and many times faster software alternatives; all at a generally lower price point.

As Ben Kepes of Forbes.com notes, “As margins and revenue on plain storage products start to become eroded by the dual rises of commodity hardware and cloud computing, traditional storage vendors need to find alternative revenue streams.” He also adds, “The idea of this deal is to extend HDS’ product offerings into the lucrative big data space.” Definition: move forward or risk being left behind!

A portion of the press release from Pentaho gives some additional insight: ‘This acquisition helps to fulfill Hitachi’s strategy of delivering business innovations that integrate machine data, information technology, and analytics to distill value from big data and the Internet of Things. This acquisition is a transformational event for the big data industry, and will accelerate enterprise adoption of big data technologies and solutions through easier, faster deployment, leading to faster ROI.’

Bloomberg Business strikes a similar chord:‘Enterprise information-technology companies are seeking to better respond to growing amounts of data that companies need to analyze by buying up firms with expertise in information analysis. Other recent deals include Microsoft Corp.’s agreement to acquire Revolution Analytics last month, and Salesforce.com Inc.’s purchase of e-mail-analysis startup RelateIQ for about $400 million in July.’

Dan Woods, also of Forbes.com, shares his thoughts on Hitachi’s overall goal from the acquisition: ‘Now, Hitachi Data Systems will be able to use Pentaho for the glue to hold together and integrate the massive web components it brings to its Social Innovation Strategy.’

Our take, this is just the beginning. As more hardware juggernauts race to catch up, don’t be surprised to see more moves akin to these; and soon! For the consumer, of course, this is all gravy. Allowing the consumer, or business, to be able to have all their hardware and BI/DI software needs fulfilled by a single vendor versus the traditional route of several vendors; we may find that companies will be pleasantly surprised moving forward and have additional subsequent demand as such. The old IT adage used to be, “If you don’t like it, wait six months.” Now, it seems, if you don’t like it – look tomorrow!

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