Clean sweep for Virtualisation Tech Trailblazers

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has released the news that it will acquire Zerto, a provider of disaster recovery, backup and workload mobility software for virtualized infrastructures and cloud environments, for $374 million in cash.

The announcement, made on 1 July 2021 by HPE, now means that the winner and all the runners-up in the Tech Trailblazers Virtualisation Award 2012 have now either been acquired, Zerto and GreenBytes, or successfully launched an IPO, Nutanix. The deal sees the expansion of HPE GreenLake with Zerto’s data protection software being added as a service to the edge-to-cloud platform and the acceleration of HPE’s transformation to a cloud-native, software-defined data services business.

To give an idea of the size of the deal, Zerto deals with more than 350 Managed Service Providers and 9,000 customers to provide disaster recovery, ransomware protection, and data and application mobility across hybrid, multi-cloud environments. Zerto’s management team will join HPE after the close of the transaction, expected to be sometime in Q4 2021. After that Zerto will be organised under HPE Storage.

“Data is now the most critical asset,” said Antonio Neri, President and CEO, HPE. “With the explosive growth of data at the edge and across hybrid environments, organizations today face significant complexity in managing and protecting their data. Zerto’s market-leading cloud data management and protection software expands HPE GreenLake cloud data services, allowing customers to protect their data and rapidly act on insights, from edge to cloud.”

Zerto is also happy with the deal, giving them the potential to leverage HPE’s global presence, distribution channel, and installed base. “The HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud strategy and strong leadership is a perfect match for Zerto,” said Ziv Kedem, CEO, Zerto. “Coupling Zerto’s industry-leading cloud data management and protection software platform with HPE’s cloud data services and go-to-market reach will offer an unparalleled experience for our collective customers and partners.”

We wish Zerto all the best and they now join the Hall of Fame of previous Tech Trailblazers who gone on to greater success and have been acquired.