Eucalyptus Systems has agreed to be acquired by Hewlett Packard

Eucalyptus Systems, which was started in 2009 by Professor Rich Wolski, UCSB Computer Science researchers Chris Grzegorczyk, Daniel Nurmi, Graziano Obertelli, Neil Soman, Dmitrii Zagorodnov, and local entrepreneur Woody Rollins, has agreed to be acquired by Hewlett Packard.  Eucalyptus (which stands for Elastic Utility Computing Architecture Linking Your Programs to Useful Systems) began as part the NSF-funded VGrADS project, which focused on distributed systems research that would allow applications to span "The Grid" and "The Cloud."  As a freely available open source private cloud that could accurately mimic Amazon's popular AWS public cloud, it quickly gained both international uptake and Silicon Valley venture funding interest.

Commercializing in 2009 with backing from Benchmark Capital, NEA, IVP, and BV Capital, and headquartered in Goleta just off the UCSB campus, Eucalyptus grew to be the leading enterprise private cloud technology.  Because it is freely available as open source, it is also widely used in education and research with installations at more than 1500 colleges and universities worldwide. 

"It was a tremendous opportunity for the students and postdocs on the project to see their work go from research conception to large-scale enterprise software product," Wolski said when asked about the acquisition announcement. "I'm thrilled to see it move forward with such a large industry player."

In addition, Marten Mickos, the current CEO of Eucalyptus, will take over as Senior Vice President in charge of the Cloud Business at Hewlett Packard. "Societal impact of Eucalyptus, both as a technology and as a business, is what we hoped for when we started the project," Wolski noted.  "It is rewarding to see how it has helped those who have used it as well as the impact the company has had an an employer on the local community."

Congratulations to Prof. Wolski and the whole Eucalyptus team!