Software developers are increasingly relying on open-source databases to construct their systems, but it’s difficult to deal with so many distinct solutions. A California startup, Instaclustr, sought to alter that by providing popular open-source databases as a service. NetApp purchased the firm today for an undisclosed sum. NetApp clients may use Instaclustr to install popular open-source databases without having to worry about the difficulties that come with dealing with raw open-source. PostgresSQL, Apache Kafka, OpenSearch, ElasticSearch, and Apache Cassandra are among the projects they support.
This is the latest in a string of tiny purchases for the firm, which has previously focused on data and storage management. NetApp senior vice president and general manager Anthony Lye stated in a blog post announcing the sale that the acquisition was ultimately about enhancing customer experience by making it easier to deploy this software. “The purchase of Instaclustr is a strategic next move for NetApp,” he said, “to do more for the customer, simplify the experience, and constantly optimize and protect the platform so customers don’t have to do it themselves.”
When you look at the company’s recent acquisitions, you can see a pattern emerging as it seeks to transition from a traditional storage vendor to something that is more relevant for clients today trying to manage workloads in the cloud. “To implement FinOps, we’ve undertaken a series of smart acquisitions, including Spot, CloudCheckr, and Fylamynt.” We now provide SecOps with Cloud Hawk, Cloud Secure, and CloudCheckr. “We provide cloud solutions that address our clients’ most critical cloud requirements, including size, performance, speed, efficiency, security, and affordability,” Lyn stated.
The two firms, according to Ben Bromhead, CTO and co-founder of Instaclustr, will produce a logical combination for customers. “NetApp’s robust infrastructure solutions fit wonderfully with Instaclustr’s data-layer-as-a-service solutions and services from a technological and product standpoint,” he said in a statement. According to Crunchbase records, Instaclustr was launched in 2013 and raised roughly $22 million. NetApp was created in 1992 and listed on the stock exchange in 1995. This afternoon, the stock is marginally higher. The transaction is scheduled to finalize in the first quarter of FY2023, pending regulatory approval.
