Hewlett-Packard (HP) was highlighted in August of 2020 for their big spending and acquisition-heavy approach in edge computing. This week it appears that the investment has paid off. HPE announced a $2 billion, ten year contract with the National Security Agency (NSA). HP’s intellectual property in edge computing focused on intelligent edge services that respond dynamically to resource needs and on cloud integration, both of which are important factors for the large amounts of data involved with the NSA contract. Additionally, as was highlighted in the previous insight, HP bought big data startup MapR which brought in IP for AI/ML and data analytic management.

While HP has a relatively small patent portfolio compared to other large tech companies in the sector like IBM and Intel, this massive contract should spur more investment and could encourage them to seek out more acquisition targets in the space. Dell EMC and Pure Storage are two strong competitors for data centers, but with a steady cash flow from the US government, HP is well-positioned to stay competitive.

To keep an eye on the latest trends in edge computing, check out the Edge Computing Patent Forecast®!