SCIENCE

Strategic partnership to capitalize on growing market for large HPC cluster installations: Appro, the 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. “Appro has stepped into the HPC market limelight by winning contracts for large-scale HPC systems at the U.S. Department of Energy's Tri-Labs ( LLNL, SNL, LANL), University of Tsukuba, one of Japan's leading academic research institutions and in Europe with ING Renault Formula1 Team”, said Steve Conway, IDC research vice president for HPC. “IDC estimates that clusters will continue to be the main growth engines for the WW HPC market, driving server revenue from $10 billion dollar in 2006 to more than $15 billion in 2011.” “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. “NEC has been addressing the needs of a wide variety of HPC organizations for 20 years with its dedicated EMEA HPC channel division. We offer best-in-class integrated HPC solutions and services from small to large scale cluster deployments and do so with technical expertise at a lower TCO”, said Fumihiko Hisamitsu, General Manager, HPC Marketing Promotion Division, NEC Corporation. “We look forward to working together with Appro to offer powerful, flexible and reliable solutions to EMEA HPC markets.”