In order to expand its cloud-based storage business, software
giant
Microsoft Corp.
(
MSFT
) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire StorSimple. The
financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Based in Santa Clara, StorSimple offers Cloud-integrated
Storage (CiS) solutions that combine physical data management
services, such as basic storage, backup and recovery with cloud
integration. This hybrid approach, which integrates on-premise
storage with cloud storage, reduces costs by up to 90% and
provides complete data protection.
Large enterprises across many vertical markets, including
retail, oil and gas, manufacturing, consumer goods, healthcare,
and financial services use services provided by StorSimple. The
company states that most of its enterprise customers use
Microsoft's Windows Azure as their primary cloud computing
solution.
Cloud storage came into prominence in 2009, with Nirvanix and
Amazon's
(
AMZN
) Simple Storage Service (S3) being two of the major pioneers.
Though Amazon continues to dominate the space, other players like
Microsoftand
Rackspace
(
RAX
) are not far behind.
Microsoft's leading cloud-based storage capabilities when
combined with StorSimple's software solutions could create the
necessary synergy to tilt the scales in its favor. The addition
of CiS will enhance Microsoft's Cloud OS vision and help
customers to use hybrid cloud computing more efficiently. We
think that the StorSimple acquisition will expand Microsoft's
customer base, due to the expected increase in demand from
enterprises going forward.
Microsoft's aggressive acquisition strategy has proved
beneficial in the past and is largely responsible for the
company's market position. In fiscal 2012, the company closed the
Skype acquisition and picked up an enterprise social networking
company Yammer for $1.2 billion in cash.
Microsoft remains one of the best positioned software vendors,
given its wide range of products, emerging markets strength,
continued technology deployment at data centers and growth in
cloud computing. We believe that Microsoft's current investments
are supported by its strong balance sheet and expect these to
drive the next growth phase, improving prospects of market share
gains.
Microsoft Corp. has a Zacks #3 Rank, which implies a Hold
rating in the short term (1-3 months).
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