Software giant Microsoft is adding another firm to its growing portfolio of cloud and analytics assets for its cloud computing service, Microsoft Azure. The software company this week confirmed the acquisition of Cloudyn, an Israeli-based cloud monitoring, and analytics startup. Microsoft made the big announcement on a recent company's blog post.
The deal is said to be part of Microsoft’s ongoing multi-cloud strategy. The Cloudyn deal will give the software company a cloud billing and management solution platform that provides it with a competitive advantage over its rivals in the hotly contested cloud computing market.
According to TechCrunch, it was in April when the world first hears the news about Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Cloudyn, which provides tools that help customers manage their cloud billing and costs across multiple cloud platform. That deal has taken a while to work through the terms, but this week, the software giant is making it official. Cloudyn is now part of the tech behemoth. The Redmond-based software company reportedly paid between $50 million to $70 million for the tiny Israeli cloud analytics specialist, the TechCrunch reported.
Cloudyn, a close look at the Israeli startup
Founded in 2012 and based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Cloudyn provides companies the ability to monitor their cloud costs through the cloud-based analytics and optimization tools, while at the same time providing companies access to real-time data across various operational metrics.
Before its deal with Microsoft, Cloudyn has already raised more than $20 million, including an $11 million that being raised in 2015 funding round. Cloudyn’s big-name customers include Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Ticketmaster.
Like many of the software giant’s recent acquisitions and deals, Cloudyn is no longer new to Microsoft’s software and cloud technology, the two have already worked as technology partners with Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service.
In addition to Microsoft Azure, Cloudyn’s technology also works across other major cloud computing platforms, these include Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google.
Microsoft’s cloud strategy and the competitors
Since taking over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, the India-born Satya Nadella has led a massive push in the cloud computing arena.
The 49-years-old Indian-American business executive was a former head of the software giant’s cloud and enterprise division before rising to CEO position, that’s why this cloud refocused mission has no longer come as a big surprise to everyone.
Microsoft is no longer stranger when it comes to Israel tech space. The software giant has already acquired several small, laser-focused Israeli-based companies, and most of them in the enterprise security space. These include Israeli-based security specialists Adallom, Aorato and Secure Islands. Earlier this month, it acquired another security specialist, the security intelligence firm Hexadite for $100 million.
Unfortunately, Microsoft isn’t alone in boosting its cloud computing business through strategic acquisitions and partnerships.
Rival companies, like IBM and Google, are also on the hunt. In 2015, IBM made some huge acquisitions, acquiring private cloud provider Bluebox and cloud management firm Gravitant.
Last year, archrival Google acquired an API management and predictive analytics Apegee for its Google Cloud Platform. And earlier this year, it acquired the San Franciso-based data science firm Kaggle.
