Intel Acquiring Edge Computing Platform From Pivot Technology Solutions

'This transaction enhances our ability to address the 5G network transformation with a leading position in edge computing,’ says Dan Rodriguez, Intel’s Data Center Group vice president and general manager of the Network Compute Division.

Intel is acquiring the edge computing platform business of Pivot Technology Solutions in a move to expand its edge computing offerings as businesses and organizations roll out 5G networks.

Intel’s acquisition of Pivot’s Smart Edge technology will help the chipmaker meet the growing demand for computing in the network and at the edge—an estimated $65 billion silicon addressable market by 2023, according to Intel.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

[Related: Intel To Stop Selling Xeon Scalable CPUs With Omni-Path Integration]

“This transaction enhances our ability to address the 5G network transformation with a leading position in edge computing,” said Dan Rodriguez, an Intel Data Center Group vice president and general manager of the Network Compute Division, in a statement.

“We plan to take full advantage of our combined technologies and teams to accelerate the development of the edge computing market while creating a compelling solution for customers,” Rodriguez said.

Smart Edge is a cloud-native, scalable and secure platform for multi-access edge computing. It’s used by businesses and communications service providers to enable cloud-like services closer to users on customer-premise or network edge, Intel said.

The Smart Edge technology creates new opportunities and revenue streams for businesses and service providers while reducing the total cost of ownership for intelligent edge systems, Intel said. A manufacturer, for example, could use Smart Edge to combine 5G, data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies to boost operating efficiencies on the factory floor, while a retailer could use it to deploy in-store, location-aware systems to improve customer experiences, Intel said.

Smart Edge was developed to run on Intel processors, including Xeon Scalable processors today and, going forward, Intel Optane memory, Intel FPGAs and other accelerators. Intel said Smart Edge is also “highly complementary” with the Intel OpenNESS (Open Network Edge Services Software) project.

The Smart Edge business is wholly owned by Pivot Technology Solutions, a Norcross, Ga.-based IT infrastructure and service provider. Under the deal announced Tuesday, which is expected to close in the coming weeks, approximately 25 Smart Edge employees will join Intel’s Network and Custom Logic Group (NCLG), Intel said.

Also, as part of the acquisition, Intel and Pivot will sign a Preferred Partner Agreement, which names Pivot as an authorized Smart Edge reseller and Intel’s nonexclusive Preferred Systems Integrator for Smart Edge-based edge services and solutions.

“Our partnership with Intel will leverage Pivot’s core strengths as a technology integrator and service provider with Intel’s advanced technology solutions to drive the adoption of the Smart Edge platform,” said Pivot CEO Kevin Shank, in a statement. “We look forward to collaborating with Intel to develop and take to market many new edge computing use cases.”

Smart Edge is already part of Intel’s Network Builders ecosystem and was a recipient of Intel’s 2019 Partner of the Year Award for excellence in accelerating innovation in network communications.