The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) tapped Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to help it crunch more data, awarding the vendor a 10-year, $2 billion contract to deliver cloud-based high-performance computing (HPC) technology using an as-a-service model.
As part of the deal, HPE will build and manage a secure on-premises cloud solution at a QTS data center using its HPE GreenLake platform as the foundation. The solution, which is set to go into service in 2022, will consist of HPE Apollo systems and ProLiant servers. Together, these will allow the NSA to process high volumes of data and support both deep learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, HPE said in a press release.
Justin Hotard, HPE’s SVP and GM for HPC and Mission Critical Solutions, stated “By using the HPE GreenLake platform, which delivers secure on-premises solutions as a service, the National Security Agency is gaining industry-leading HPC solutions to tackle a range of complex data needs, but with a flexible, as a service experience.”
In 2019, HPE announced a plan to deliver its entire portfolio as a service by 2022. Its GreenLake cloud platform has played a key role in this shift, with executives in June highlighting the “tremendous momentum” it has gained since its introduction in 2018. As of June, HPE said more than 1,200 enterprise customers were running GreenLake.
RELATED: HPE targets telecom, healthcare, banking with GreenLake services
The contract also represents a major win for HPE in a government cloud market where Amazon and Microsoft have been duking it out for supremacy. Prior to its cancellation in July, Amazon and Microsoft spent two years sparring over who should be awarded the Department of Defense’s $10 billion JEDI contract. Nextgov recently reported the pair are now at odds over a separate $10 billion cloud contract from the NSA.
Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, told Fierce “HPE had a lot more government business before the public cloud emerged. With XaaS capabilities emerging like GreenLake, we could see some of the pendulum swing back as evidenced by the NSA deal.”