The largest tech company in the industry is now setting up shop in Cambridge. Cambridge is increasing its reputation as a hub of high-tech and bio-tech firms to flock to (as we've discussed in several recent blog posts). Hewlett-Packard (HP) is joining the ranks of countless start-ups mingling amongst massive corporations in the area; most notably Google, Microsoft, IBM, EMC and Amazon.
A 37,000 square foot establishment just to set up is costing roughly $10 million and is the new home for Vertica, a big-data analytics company stationed around Boston that was recently bought out by HP for a reported $300 million. Currently with a location in Andover, Massachusetts, HP now will include the 150 workers formerly of Vertica that will be accompanying them at this new site. A 30 percent increase in staff has already occurred at Vertica and the plan is for growth of at least another 30 percent throughout this new year for the new merged business.
Led by Chris Lynch, this new HP center has plans to bring in young entrepreneurs, students and to also work closely with K-12 schools for technology themed games, hackathons and other exciting events. A serious reason for such a move is to situate themselves in an area full of other world class professionals in the same field as well as being able to recruit some of the best talent piping out year-over-year from all of the fantastic Universities that are in the area.
Overall, Lynch insists that big-data companies can continue to push on in The Greater Boston Area so much that the leading Silicon Valley will find it difficult to compete. What is important to him is to train, mentor and hire young individuals to keep these brilliant minds here. Lynch has also vowed to help 20 local start-up companies get off the ground in the big-data field and for them all to see the light and benefits of keeping their home base where it all started.
More Information: XConomy.com
