Appro partners with NEC

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Appro has been in the news lately with wins in the DOE and Japan (University of Tsukuba). Today they’ve announced a partnership with NEC. From the release

Appro logoAppro (http://www.appro.com), a leading provider of high-performance enterprise computing systems, and NEC Corporation,  one of the world’s leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions,   announce  a strategic partnership today that will see Appro Xtreme-X Supercomputer and Appro Cluster Engine™ Software Management added and branded  as part of  NEC’s HPC solution offering.

The partnership will enable Appro and NEC to work together towards a common goal; focus on reducing complexity of technology integration when deploying and managing integrated solutions, while lowering customer total cost of ownership (TCO).  Commencing September 2008, Appro Supercomputer products will be added to NEC’s HPC offering as a first step in this partnership.

Benefits to the participants? NEC gets a value oriented solution and Appro’s software (which is by all accounts good), and Appro gets access to the EMEA market where NEC is a much bigger presence than they are here in the US.

“This strategic partnership is a major breakthrough for Appro’s supercomputers entry into the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) HPC market. By combining NEC’s strong technology base and market position in EMEA together with Appro’s cluster deployment successes in the HPC market, the partnership will provide sustainable competitive advantages enabling both Appro and NEC to take greater advantage of this growing market segment”, said Daniel Kim, CEO of Appro.

Although I wonder about the actual value of that access: as I read the announcement NEC will brand the Appro gear under NEC’s own label. So while Appro will get revenue and deployment experience that will help them execute better on new business, they won’t be directly growing their brand outside the US.