HPE Buys 200-Person AWS Consulting Workhorse Cloud Technology Partners
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has purchased Amazon Web Services premier consultancy Cloud Technology Partners to bolster its hybrid IT prowess.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based vendor said its acquisition of Boston-based CTP will help end users migrate, innovate and operate in the cloud. The 200-employee solution provider has experience leveraging IoT, big data and machine learning to help its customers build new and disruptive cloud solutions.
"Together with CTP, we will provide customers with the ability to move quickly, build new innovative digital experiences, simply manage and forecast IT costs, and ensure the applications running their business stay secure," Ana Pinczuk, senior vice president and general manager of HPE Pointnext, wrote in a blog post.
Terms of the deal, which was announced Tuesday, weren't disclosed, and HPE and CTP didn't immediately respond to requests for additional comment. HPE's stock is down $0.16 (1.12%) to $14.15 in pre-market trading.
CTP initially is looking to follow up its August 2016 Series C round of venture capital with a Series D round of funding, according to CEO Chris Greendale. But during those discussions, Greendale said it became clear that HPE stood out from the rest.
"Uniquely, HPE provided us the opportunity to maintain our industry-recognized brand and rapidly scale through new revenue streams, new markets, larger and more diverse enterprise accounts, and additional human capital," Greendale said in a note on the CTP website.
Joining forces with HPE will enable CTP to scale globally, accelerate its road map and become part of a larger, like-minded community, according to HPE CEO Meg Whitman.
"I believe CTP, with your deep IP and expertise, will play a critical role in helping HPE even more effectively execute its strategy and provide the comprehensive technology solutions our joint customers are looking for," Whitman wrote in a letter to CTP employees.
CTP was founded in 2010 and has grown to 200 employees today from just 104 employees two years ago and 154 employees at this time last year, according to LinkedIn. In addition to the AWS relationship, CTP is a Google Premier Consulting Partner and a Microsoft Azure Silver Partner, according to a company overview on its website.
In April, the solution provider launched a managed cloud controls offering for Amazon Web Services, which provides automated and configurable services to AWS customers that continuously monitor cloud spending and adherence to compliance frameworks. CTP is a NextGen AWS managed services provider, and has achieved AWS competency in migration, IoT, security, DevOps and financial services.
CTP also specializes in helping IT organizations determine which applications are optimal for public and private clouds and executing the migrations, according to HPE. The solution provider has completed almost 500 enterprise cloud transformation projects and works with Fortune 500 clients across a multitude of industries, HPE said.
The company will become part of HPE Pointnext, which is home to advisory services, professional services and operational services. Pointnext is focused on service augmentation so that partners can maintain a 90 percent bench utilization rate and specialize their own internal services resources while teaming up with HPE for the rest, HPE Global Channel Vice President Ken Archer told CRN last month.
"If we provide partners our entire Pointnext portfolio plus complementary solutions and services capabilities from our partner ecosystem, a partner never has to say no – never has to disengage from a customer," Archer told CRN.
Archer said that even large partners are looking for help as they get hit with digital transformation requirements and specifications. As a result, Archer said Pointnext has been looking to partner with value players that already have some services capability and are looking to further increase their capabilities and competencies.
Pointnext is crafting rules of engagement to ensure HPE is supporting partners and helping in an augmentation role, Archer said, and is also monitoring the partner economics to maintain rich margins on both the selling and delivery of services.