Scale Computing isn’t just the leader in hyperconvergence – they invented it!

The way IT infrastructure has been engineered for the past 15 years is changing and it’s time to get on board the hyperconvergence train or get left at the station.

Hyperconvergence, the bringing together of servers, storage and virtualized software into a single stack to take advantage of advances in computing power, was first invented in Indianapolis by Scale Computing – and they have 27 patents backing up that claim.

“The pure technology play of hyperconvergence was developed right here in Indy by Scale Computing’s core tech talent,” said Jeff Ready, founder and CEO of Scale Computing. “There is not a comparable technology out there right now that does it the way we do it with our HC3 solution. We coined the word hyperconvergence in 2011 and started this industry. Now everybody else is working to catch up with our technologies.”

Scale Computing’s HC3 solution combines server, storage and virtualization hardware and software into an appliance-like node that can easily be scaled up as companies grow by adding more nodes. They most recently upgraded their software, added flash storage and a new functionality called HyperCore Enhanced Automated Tiering or HEAT, which together allow for even faster performance by using a combination of built-in intelligence, data access patterns, and workload priority to automatically optimize the system when usage is heavy.

Research firm Gartner Inc. predicts companies will invest $4.9 billion over the next three years into hyperconvergence as the technology becomes mainstream, but companies across all industries will save money in the long run due to efficiencies of the new tech stack.

An evaluation of Scale Computing customer Safran Power, a global aerospace and defense company, showed that the hyperconverged solution reduced time and labor costs by as much as 90 percent. Safran Power IT Director Leonard Powers confirmed that HC3 is fast to setup and deploy, requires three-quarters less daily maintenance and a fraction of the time and effort to recover from system failures and emergencies.

According to Gartner, hyperconvergence spending leapt from a few hundred million dollars to $1.1 billion last year and is expected to nearly double this year and next, reaching close to $5 billion in 2019. In the December 2015 Gartner Midsize Enterprise Survey, hyperconvergence customers listed Scale Computing by name as one of the best vendors that understands the needs of the midmarket. This is quite a feat considering the small Indianapolis-based firm is the only privately held company to make the list among giant brands like HP, Microsoft Cisco, VMware, IBM and Dell. (While Dell is technically private and no longer trading on NASDAQ, the scope comparison remains valid.)

Scale Computing was also just named the “Best Midmarket Solution: Hardware” at the Midsize Enterprise Summit XCellence Awards in May for its newly announced flash-integrated HC3 appliances. The awards measure attendees’ perceptions of products and services with top honors going to the companies that earned the most votes during the event.

Investors apparently agree with market customers that Scale Computing is a safe bet. Venture Capital and private equity firms from the Midwest, East Coast and Silicon Valley have invested $61 million total in the company, with the most recent $18 million round led by ABS Capital out of Baltimore.

With approximately 70 percent of the market having moved by 2018 to hyperconvergence from standalone servers, storage and virtualization, Scale Computing expects to grow alongside the industry as the preferred vendor for small- to midsized companies.

The ideal customer for Scale Computing is a company that has at least $50 million in revenue with a small in-house team of about one to 10 IT personnel. Scale Computing currently has more than 1,600 customer deployments around the world, mostly in the target market with small- to midsized businesses in a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, construction, financial services, local governments, education and healthcare.

The company employs 50 people at its westside Indianapolis headquarters, 20 at its San Francisco location and a few personnel at sales offices in Toronto and London. Scale Computing is currently hiring for sales and engineering roles.

“We’re always looking for sales and engineering talent,” Ready said. “Whether they are new grads or people with a few years of experience, if they want to work with a team that is inventing something truly new and selling it to a global market we want to hear from them.”

In an effort to raise the visibility and accelerate the growth of Indiana tech companies, each week we will spotlight a growing company with a compelling story. In particular, we will spotlight scale-up companies that are rapidly emerging and could become our community’s future success stories. Visit this page to learn more the Tailwind program and see if your company qualifies.

The Tailwind program is supported by grants from the Indiana Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (OSBE) and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.