SimpliVity

SimpliVity, founded in 2009 by Doron Kempel, emerged as a key player in the hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) market before its acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in 2017 for approximately $650 million. The company was established to address the increasing complexity in IT data centers by consolidating computing, storage, and networking into a single, software-defined system.

Doron Kempel, a serial entrepreneur with a notable background, brought a unique perspective to the tech industry. Prior to SimpliVity, he co-founded Diligent Technologies, a data storage company acquired by IBM in 2008. His earlier career included a vice presidency at EMC and a distinguished tenure as deputy chief of Sayeret Matkal, an elite unit in the Israel Defense Forces. Kempel's business acumen is complemented by an MBA from Harvard Business School and degrees in law and philosophy from Tel Aviv University, a foundation that shaped his strategic approach to identifying and solving complex market problems.

SimpliVity's core business revolves around its OmniStack technology, a platform that provides a unified, scalable building block of x86 resources. This technology integrates server, storage, and networking services, along with advanced functionalities like built-in data protection, disaster recovery, and WAN optimization. The platform's key differentiator is its Data Virtualization Platform, which performs real-time deduplication, compression, and optimization of data at ingest. This process is often offloaded from the CPU by a purpose-built hardware component, the OmniStack Accelerator Card, which significantly enhances data efficiency, reduces storage footprint, and minimizes network traffic. The business model targeted enterprises looking to simplify their IT infrastructure, reduce operational costs, and achieve cloud-like economics in an on-premises environment.

Following the acquisition, HPE integrated SimpliVity's software into its own product lines, notably offering the OmniStack software on its ProLiant DL380 servers. The product, now known as HPE SimpliVity, continues to serve enterprise clients with virtualized workloads, offering solutions for data centers, edge computing, and remote office/branch office (ROBO) environments. The system streamlines IT operations through a single, unified management interface, often integrated with VMware vCenter, allowing IT generalists to manage complex infrastructure tasks with ease. The platform has since evolved to incorporate AI-driven operations through the integration of HPE InfoSight, providing predictive analytics for system management.

Keywords: hyperconverged infrastructure, HCI, data virtualization, software-defined storage, IT simplification, data center infrastructure, OmniStack, data deduplication, enterprise IT, data protection, disaster recovery, virtual machine management, Doron Kempel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HPE SimpliVity, ProLiant servers, IT consolidation, private cloud infrastructure, edge computing, data efficiency