APPLICATIONS
Bull acquires Serviware, leader in HPC solutions integration
Bull has today announced that it has acquired Serviware, a French company specializing in High-Performance Computing (HPC) solutions integration. This move reflects Bull's aim to position itself as European leader in information technology and to further accelerate its growth in the rapidly-expanding HPC market. Serviware will bring its experience of the manufacturing sector, as well as its dynamic record of growth, to the Group. The acquisition will also strengthen Bull's skill base in the design of HPC solutions for industry, as well as for research centers in other large and medium-sized organizations. 
A key acquisition in a strategic sector With this acquisition, Bull will provide Serviware with the resources it needs to enhance its own technological and commercial development. Serviware - responsible for a large number of integration projects in HP, IBM and SUN environments - will also gain access to Bull's offerings and expertise in very large-scale IT architectures. The company will maintain its independence operationally, as well as its own management team and organization structure - while at the same time benefiting from the Bull Group's financial and industrial size and scope. By combining its experience in the world's largest supercomputers and its expertise in open enterprise systems, Bull aims to help R&D centers and manufacturers to be more innovative, and to design, develop and test tomorrow's products more rapidly. "This acquisition marks a new phase in the growth of Bull's HPC business activities, and will help expand our presence in industry more quickly," confirms Philippe Miltin, Vice President, Bull Products and Systems. "It will bring together the combined skills and expertise of Bull and Serviware, and result in the creation of a top-class center of excellence." Serviware itself is a center of expertise focused on the successful implementation of information systems, as well as storage, data processing and graphic visualization systems. Since 1994, Serviware has built up its business to the point where it is now one of the major players in the French market for scientific IT and storage. Serviware's approach involves bringing together a team of technical experts to ensure that it can successfully meet its commitments to deliver turnkey solutions on fixed-price contracts. The company currently employs 53 people and in 2006 it recorded revenues of €27 million. Bull accelerates the roll-out of intensive computing in industry and R&D centers As part of its 7i program, Bull recently launched its initiative designed to increase the democratization of HPC: to help companies and R&D centers accelerate the process of innovation. Today's announcement reflects that aim and consolidates the Group's position, particularly in the industrial sector. Companies and R&D centers are effectively faced with a real challenge: to ensure they have the capacity to innovate more quickly and at a lower cost. The democratization of HPC is a major ambition for society: but with its own new solutions combined with Serviware's offerings, Bull will make it easier for industrial companies and R&D centers in large and medium-sized organizations to deploy HPC. "The coming-together of our two companies highlights the extremely complementary nature of our businesses and our expertise," adds Olivier Jean, Sales Director of Serviware and founder of the company. "By combining our industrial culture, the talents of our teams and our track record with Bull's dynamism, we are going to create a real force to be reckoned with in the HPC market." Serviware completes Bull's HPC solutions offering, principally:
A key acquisition in a strategic sector With this acquisition, Bull will provide Serviware with the resources it needs to enhance its own technological and commercial development. Serviware - responsible for a large number of integration projects in HP, IBM and SUN environments - will also gain access to Bull's offerings and expertise in very large-scale IT architectures. The company will maintain its independence operationally, as well as its own management team and organization structure - while at the same time benefiting from the Bull Group's financial and industrial size and scope. By combining its experience in the world's largest supercomputers and its expertise in open enterprise systems, Bull aims to help R&D centers and manufacturers to be more innovative, and to design, develop and test tomorrow's products more rapidly. "This acquisition marks a new phase in the growth of Bull's HPC business activities, and will help expand our presence in industry more quickly," confirms Philippe Miltin, Vice President, Bull Products and Systems. "It will bring together the combined skills and expertise of Bull and Serviware, and result in the creation of a top-class center of excellence." Serviware itself is a center of expertise focused on the successful implementation of information systems, as well as storage, data processing and graphic visualization systems. Since 1994, Serviware has built up its business to the point where it is now one of the major players in the French market for scientific IT and storage. Serviware's approach involves bringing together a team of technical experts to ensure that it can successfully meet its commitments to deliver turnkey solutions on fixed-price contracts. The company currently employs 53 people and in 2006 it recorded revenues of €27 million. Bull accelerates the roll-out of intensive computing in industry and R&D centers As part of its 7i program, Bull recently launched its initiative designed to increase the democratization of HPC: to help companies and R&D centers accelerate the process of innovation. Today's announcement reflects that aim and consolidates the Group's position, particularly in the industrial sector. Companies and R&D centers are effectively faced with a real challenge: to ensure they have the capacity to innovate more quickly and at a lower cost. The democratization of HPC is a major ambition for society: but with its own new solutions combined with Serviware's offerings, Bull will make it easier for industrial companies and R&D centers in large and medium-sized organizations to deploy HPC. "The coming-together of our two companies highlights the extremely complementary nature of our businesses and our expertise," adds Olivier Jean, Sales Director of Serviware and founder of the company. "By combining our industrial culture, the talents of our teams and our track record with Bull's dynamism, we are going to create a real force to be reckoned with in the HPC market." Serviware completes Bull's HPC solutions offering, principally: - In 'intermediary' R&D centers, in other words smaller-scale or medium-sized establishments that usually form part of larger computing networks, but who would like to have local access to HPC resources, for reasons of simplicity and ease of access
- In most sectors of industry, for example: in pharmaceuticals, for the development of new medicines; in banking and insurance, for analyzing financial risks; in the chemical industry, for testing and producing new molecules; in the aeronautical and automotive industries, to help design and produce safer and less expensive means of transport... The aim is to help organizations face up to increasingly intense competition - which depends on their capacity for innovation and to create new products more rapidly and at lower cost - and meet more and more demanding quality criteria, a vital issue.