Ever since Amazon.com Inc. first announced its goal in 2012 to take over the enterprise cloud with its Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS rivals Cisco Systems, Inc., Dell Inc., Google, Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and VMware Inc. have been trying to survive in this new hybrid, services-driven, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) world. To that end, all eight companies have been scrambling to make cloud services through acquisitions in an effort to keep Amazon from taking over the entire enterprise cloud industry.
But AWS is still widely regarded as the industry leader in the public cloud, and AWS just might have something else up its sleeve now in regards to the hybrid cloud. As SiliconANGLE’s Bert Latamore suggests here, there is an industry rumor circling this week that AWS will announce an on-premises appliance as a play for the growing hybrid cloud market. Rumor has it that AWS will announce this on-premises appliance at the AWS re:Invent conference (which kicks off today; watch theCUBE’s live coverage here).
While we wait to see if this AWS rumor is true, let’s take a look back at the cloud-related companies that Cisco, Dell, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle each have acquired since 2012, as they try to beat Amazon in the enterprise cloud.
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Cisco’s cloud acquisitions
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2012
Dec.10 – Cisco acquired Cloupia, a privately held, Santa Clara, Calif.-based software company that automates converged data center infrastructure, allowing enterprises and service providers to simplify the deployment and configuration of physical and virtual resources from a single management console. When combined with Cisco’s data center management solutions, Cloupia will enable enterprises and service providers to manage pools of computing power, network services, storage and virtual machines as a unified whole.
2013
March 25 – Cisco acquired SolveDirect, a privately held, Vienna, Austria-based company that provides cloud-delivered services management integration software and services.
Dec.17 – Cisco acquired Collaborate.com, a Boston, MA-based company that provides a cloud-based, team collaboration platform that unifies messaging, document sharing and task management in a single mobile app for iPhone, Android and the Web. Collaborate’s cloud, mobile and web software capabilities enable Cisco to extend and integrate its collaboration and communications platform.
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Dell’s cloud acquisitions
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2012
April 5 – Dell acquired Make Technologies, a provider of application modernization software and services that reduce the cost, risk and time required to re-engineer applications. Companies are modernizing their applications portfolios so they can reduce legacy infrastructure operating costs. These applications run most effectively on open, standardized platforms including the cloud.
2013
May 6 – Dell acquired Enstratius, an enterprise cloud-management software and services provider that delivers single and multi-cloud management capabilities. Enstratius helps organizations manage applications across private, public and hybrid clouds, including automated application provisioning and scaling, application configuration management, usage governance, and cloud utilization monitoring.
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Google’s cloud acquisitions
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2013
Mar 15 – Google acquired Talaria Technologies, a Palo Alto-CA-based web application provider whose cutting-edge technology helps people build and run websites more efficiently. Google added Talaria’s technology to its Google Cloud Platform.
May 7 – Google acquired Stackdriver, a cloud-monitoring service that helps developers to monitor applications and services on the cloud. The teams will be working to integrate Stackdriver’s functionality so that Google Cloud Platform customers can take advantage of the monitoring capabilities, which allow customers to have more visibility into errors, performance, behavior and operations.
June 25 – Google acquired Appurify, a startup that lets developers automate testing and optimization of their mobile apps and websites. Appurify will stay open as a freemium, cross-platform service but get a big boost in distribution as it becomes integrated into the Google developer tool stack. Appurify gives Google an in-house testing service which will fit in amongst a variety of Google development tools such as Google Cloud Messaging and Android Studio.
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HP’s cloud acquisitions
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2014
Sept. 11 – HP acquired Eucalyptus, a provider of open-source software for building private and hybrid enterprise clouds. As part of the deal, Eucalyptus CEO Marten Mickos agreed to join HP as senior vice president and general manager of its cloud business.
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IBM’s cloud acquisitions
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2012
Jan. 11 – IBM acquired Green Hat, a provider of software quality and testing solutions for the cloud and other environments. Green Hat helps customers improve the quality of software applications by enabling developers to use cloud computing technologies to conduct testing of a software application prior to its delivery.
2013
July 8 – IBM acquired SoftLayer Technologies, a privately held, cloud computing infrastructure company. SoftLayer joined IBM’s cloud services division, which combines SoftLayer with IBM SmartCloud into a global platform. SoftLayer will enable IBM to combine the security, privacy and reliability of private clouds with the economy and speed of a public cloud.
2014
July 31 – IBM acquired CrossIdeas, a privately held provider of security software that governs user access to applications and data across on-premise and cloud environments. CrossIdeas helps organizations seamlessly manage identities and application access by bridging the gap between compliance, business, and IT infrastructure to help reduce the risk of fraud, conflicts of duties, and human error in business processes.
Aug. 11 – IBM acquired the business operations of Lighthouse Security Group, LLC, a premier cloud security services provider whose Gateway platform protects identity and data in an increasingly complex IT environment where more company information is being stored in the cloud and accessed from mobile devices. Lighthouse Security Group is a subsidiary of long-time IBM Business Partner Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc.
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Microsoft’s cloud acquisitions
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2012
Oct. 16 – Microsoft acquired StorSimple, a Cloud-integrated Storage (CiS) solution provider. The addition of CiS will advance Microsoft’s Cloud OS vision and help customers more efficiently embrace hybrid cloud computing.
2013
March 4 – Microsoft acquired MetricsHub, a cloud-monitoring startup. As an innovator in Active Cloud Monitoring, a technology that automates cloud performance management, MetricsHub will help Microsoft Azure customers more efficiently manage their cloud services at a lower cost.
2014
May 1 – Microsoft acquired GreenButton, a New Zealand-based provider of integrated on-demand solutions that allow customers to manage compute-intensive workloads in the cloud. These solutions are known in the industry for their ease of use. Using GreenButton’s solutions, applications can be cloud-enabled quickly without recoding existing software. As a result of the acquisition, Microsoft will integrate these solutions with the Microsoft Azure platform, enabling customers to solve complex problems, get more from their data and drive their business forward.
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Oracle’s cloud acquisitions
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2012
March 29 – Oracle acquired ClearTrial, a provider of cloud-based Clinical Trial Operations (CTO) applications that aim to make the planning, sourcing and tracking of clinical projects and financial performance faster and more accurate.
June 5 – Oracle acquired Collective Intellect, a provider of cloud-based social intelligence solutions that enable organizations to monitor, understand and respond to consumers’ conversations on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Sept. 17 – Oracle acquired SelectMinds, a provider of cloud-based social talent sourcing and corporate alumni management applications. SelectMinds’ applications enable organizations to empower recruiters, hiring managers and employees to leverage social connections to distribute job opportunities, source higher quality referrals, market their employment brand and manage corporate alumni relationships.
Nov. 8 – Oracle acquired Instantis, a provider of cloud-based and on-premise project portfolio management (PPM) solutions. Instantis enables IT departments, product development teams, and business process leaders to manage multiple corporate initiatives, and improve strategic alignment, execution, and financial performance.
Dec. 13– Oracle acquired DataRaker, a provider of a cloud-based analytics platform that enables electric, gas and water utilities to leverage vast amounts of data to optimize operational efficiency and improve the customer experience. The combination of Oracle and DataRaker’s cloud-based solutions is expected to provide utilities with the most complete solution to harness the benefits of utility Big Data to improve operational performance and enhance customer experience.
2013
March 13 – Oracle acquired Nimbula, a provider of private cloud infrastructure management software. Nimbula’s technology helps companies manage infrastructure resources to deliver service, quality and availability, as well as workloads in private and hybrid cloud environments.
Oct. 17 – Oracle acquired Compendium, a cloud-based content marketing provider that helps companies plan, produce and deliver engaging content across multiple channels throughout their customers’ lifecycle. The combination of Oracle Eloqua Marketing Cloud with Compendium is expected to enable modern marketers to align persona-based content to customers’ digital body language to improve the quality of sales leads and increase customer loyalty.
Oct. 23 – Oracle acquired BigMachines, a cloud-based Configure, Price and Quote (CPQ) solution provider. BigMachines’ CPQ Cloud accelerates the conversion of sales opportunities into revenue by automating the sales order process with guided selling, dynamic pricing, and an easy-to-use workflow approval process, accessible anywhere, on any device. In combination with Oracle’s enterprise-grade cloud solutions, Oracle and BigMachines will create an end-to-end smarter selling cloud solution.
Dec. 20 – Oracle acquired Responsys, Inc., a provider of enterprise-scale, cloud-based B2C marketing software. Responsys is used by B2C brands to orchestrate marketing interactions across email, mobile, social, display and the web. By bringing together Responsys and Oracle Eloqua in the Marketing Cloud, CMOs that support industries with B2C or B2B business models will be equipped to drive customer experiences across marketing interactions and throughout the customer lifecycle from a single platform.
2014
Jan. 7 – Oracle acquired Corente, a provider of software-defined networking (SDN) technology for wide area networks (WANs). Corente’s software-defined WAN virtualization platform accelerates deployment of cloud-based applications and services by allowing customers to provision and manage global private networks connecting to any site. Together, Corente and Oracle are expected to deliver a complete technology portfolio for cloud deployments with SDN offerings that virtualize both the enterprise data center LAN and the WAN.
Feb. 24 – Oracle acquired BlueKai, a cloud-based Big Data platform that enables companies to personalize online, offline and mobile marketing campaigns with richer and more actionable information about targeted audiences. BlueKai will be integrated with Responsys for B2C marketing automation in order to deliver personalized customer interactions across all marketing activities and channels.
June 23 – Oracle acquired MICROS Systems, Inc., a provider of integrated software and hardware solutions to the Hospitality and Retail industries. The addition of MICROS extends Oracle’s offerings by combining MICROS’ industry-specific applications with Oracle’s business applications, technologies and cloud portfolio. Together, Oracle and MICROS will help hotels, food and beverage facilities, and retailers.
July 31 – Oracle acquired TOA Technologies, a provider of cloud-based field service solutions that enable enterprises to continuously monitor real-time field service requests coming in from contact centers, to schedule the right field service representative to dispatch, and to use business analytics to monitor and view current inventories, predict service windows, and optimize field service operations. Oracle Service Cloud and Oracle ERP cloud solutions, combined with TOA, will empower customer service organizations to drive operational efficiencies.
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Photo credit: EJP Photo via photopin cc
Mellisa Tolentino contributed to this story.