HPE scores BOM novated supercomputer contract extension

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has scored a $12.8 million contract extension to supply petascale supercomputer systems to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) following its acquisition of Cray. 

Under the extension, which is in HPE's legal name of Hewlett Packard Australia, the vendor is set to provide petascale supercomputer system provision and support for a further four years, to 30 June 2025. 

Supercomputer vendor Cray had previously supplied the BOM with provision and support of petascale supercomputer systems since 2014. However, Cray was acquired by HPE in 2019. 

That acquisition, HPE and Cray said at the time, placed both companies in a position to support corporate customers with high-performance computing-as-a-service in order to assist with analytics required for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), as well as products that support software, compute and high-performance storage. 

ARN understands HPE picked up Cray's existing BOM contract in November 2020 due to the change in ownership. 

HPE’s most recent full financial year ending 31 October for its Australian operations saw its consolidated net profit jump to $21.8 million, up from $1.5 million the financial year prior.  

However, total revenue took a hit, dropping from $750 million to $665 million in the Australian market, with customer contract revenue falling from $740 million in the previous year to $659 million in 2020.