Today NetApp Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SolidFire for $870 million in cash. NetApp has a few all-flash arrays (AFA) including its EF560, however the company is not known for its AFAs. SolidFire on the other hand is a market leader in AFAs that are built for next-generation data centers. The acquisition of SolidFire will combine the performance and economics of all-flash storage with a webscale architecture.
Today NetApp Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SolidFire for $870 million in cash. NetApp has a few all-flash arrays (AFA) including its EF560, however the company is not known for its AFAs. SolidFire on the other hand is a market leader in AFAs that are built for next-generation data centers. The acquisition of SolidFire will combine the performance and economics of all-flash storage with a webscale architecture.
Acquiring SolidFire gives NetApp all-flash products that address all three AFA market segments: traditional enterprise infrastructure buyer, the application owner, and the next-generation infrastructure buyer. NetApp plans on integrating SolidFire products into its data fabric strategy over time. NetApp states that this will resulting in seamless data management across flash, disk and cloud resources.
The transaction is expected to occur in NetApp’s fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2016. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. David Wright, SolidFire’s current CEO, will now lead the SolidFire product line within NetApp’s product operations.
Sign up for the StorageReview newsletter
