HPE-Aruba

In a networking blockbuster buy, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) scooped up wireless networking specialist Aruba Networks for a cool $3 billion in May 2015.

The deal shook up the networking industry that immediately saw the move as pressure on Cisco for wireless and wired networking dominance. The loyal Aruba channel was cautiously optimistic that HPE would let Aruba continue to do what it was good at with more room for acquisitions of its own. Seven years later, Aruba is operating as its own business unit inside of HPE and has only accelerated with new offerings that target 5G, edge computing, and SASE. HPE-owned Aruba acquired SD-WAN provider Silver Peak in 2020 for $925 million.