Microsoft Acquires Cycle Computing for HPC in Azure

Microsoft announced the acquisition of Cycle Computing to support customers using High-Performance Computing (HPC) in the cloud. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cycle Computing’s CycleCloud software suite provides cloud orchestration, provisioning, and data management for big compute and large technical computing applications. Its software is used by customers in life sciences, manufacturing, financial services, engineering and research.

“Now, we see amazing opportunities in joining forces with Microsoft. Its global cloud footprint and unique hybrid offering is built with enterprises in mind, and its Big Compute/HPC team has already delivered pivotal technologies such as InfiniBand and next generation GPUs,” Cycle Computing CEO Jason Stowe said. “The Cycle team can’t wait to combine CycleCloud’s technology for managing Linux and Windows compute & data workloads, with Microsoft Azure’s Big Compute infrastructure roadmap and global market reach.”

In a blog post, Jason Zander, corporate vice president for Azure, said: “Azure has a massive global footprint and, more than any other major cloud provider. It also has powerful infrastructure, InfiniBand support for fast networking and state-of-the-art GPU capabilities. Combining the most specialized Big Compute infrastructure available in the public cloud with Cycle Computing’s technology and years of experience with the world’s largest supercomputers, we open up many new possibilities. Most importantly, Cycle Computing will help customers accelerate their movement to the cloud, and make it easy to take advantage of the most performant and compliant infrastructure available in the public cloud today.”

“We’ve already seen explosive growth on Azure in the areas of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and deep learning,” Zander said. “As customers continue to look for faster, more efficient ways to run their workloads, Cycle Computing’s depth and expertise around massively scalable applications make them a great fit to join our Microsoft team. Their technology will further enhance our support of Linux HPC workloads and make it easier to extend on-premise workloads to the cloud.”

As part of the acquisition, the Cycle Computing team will join Microsoft.