(By Balachander) Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) agreed to acquire StorSimple Inc., a California-based provider of Cloud-integrated Storage (CiS) services.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
For Microsoft, the deal is expected to advance its Cloud OS vision and help customers more efficiently embrace hybrid cloud computing.
"StorSimple's approach helps customers seamlessly integrate on-premises storage with cloud storage through intelligent automation and management," said Michael Park, corporate vice president, server and tools division for Microsoft.
StorSimple's services consolidate the management of primary data, backup disaster recovery and archival data, and deliver seamless integration between on premise and cloud environments. StorSimple automatically protects and rapidly restores production data using public clouds.
"Obviously, we are in the early stages of this acquisition – but the possibilities are exciting – and we look forward to sharing more about our plans in the future," Park said.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has priced its keenly-anticipated 10.6-inch tablet -- Surface with Windows RT -- in the $499 to $699 price range, and said the Windows tablet will be available for purchase from October 26.
MSFT shares inched up 0.05 percent to trade at $29.52 on Tuesday.