H-P Acquires Analytics Startup in New CEO’s First Deal - Digits - WSJ

HP makes a database company acquisition

The deal for Vertica Systems Inc., a closely held company in Billerica, Mass., is the first for H-P since Leo Apotheker assumed the chief executive post in November. While Apotheker is yet to reveal an overall strategy for H-P, he has said that he plans to invest more in software, which tends to have a higher profit margin than PCs and servers.

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Vertica was co-founded in 2005 by Michael Stonebraker, an industry pioneer known for work on relational databases during the 1970s at the University of California at Berkeley. Businesses use its software to gain other insight into fast-unfolding trends, such as sales slows downs or runs on a particular product. For instance, the software could sift through real-time sales data, compare them to the year earlier, and send an alert if a particular store wasn’t moving enough televisions.

H-P Acquires Analytics Startup in New CEO’s First Deal - Digits - WSJ