virtually move all the data seamlessly, by shutting off a system in one location and firing it back up in another. And smaller customers can combine several OmniCube systems to function as a data center, Kempel adds.
He explains that bigger legacy IT players been talking about the convergence of IT, but they’ve mainly placed all the existing clunky components in a rack and renamed it. “There’s a gap between the marketing and technology—any real transformation requires new underlying technology.”
Other newer competitors in the IT convergence and storage space include Nutanix, FlexPod, and Nimble, but Kempel says SimpliVity bundles features that the others can’t, such as public cloud integration, WAN optimization, globally unified management, and the ability to scale out.
The company is now up to 60 employees, some 50 of whom are engineers. The startup has raised a total of $18 million from Charles River Ventures, Accel Partners, and Kempel himself. It’s been beta testing with mid market customers—like an IT services provider—but even has a couple of multi-billion companies on board, including a major sports network. Kempel says the system could also work with colleges, or any entity that has about 20 or more IT staffers and works largely with resellers. SimpliVity plans to sell its technology through the reseller channel as well.
Kempel sees big things coming for the virtualization and simplification of IT. “In 10 years, it will become a multi-billion dollar category. Hopefully SimpliVity will be leading it,” he says.
