Microsoft to acquire high performance storage provider Avere Systems

We’re just three days into 2018 and Microsoft has already announced its first acquisition of the year, which is cloud-related. Avere Systems, a Pittsburgh-based company specialized in providing fast data access for hybrid cloud infrastructures, will help Microsoft improve its Azure offering.

“Avere uses an innovative combination of file system and caching technologies to support the performance requirements for customers who run large-scale compute workloads,” explained Jason Zander, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Azure. The company already has many high-profile customers in the media industry including Sony Pictures Imageworks, as well as several US government agencies such as NASA and Library of Congress.

In a separate blog post, President and CEO of Avere Systems Ronald Bianchini Jr. said that Microsoft completely shares Avere’s focus on large enterprise applications. “Our shared vision is to continue our focus on all of Avere’s use cases – in the datacenter, in the cloud and in hybrid cloud storage and cloud bursting environments,” he explained. “Tighter integration with Azure will result in a much more seamless experience for our customers.”