When Hitachi Data Systems Corp., or HDS, acquired data analytics firm Pentaho Corp. for a rumored $500 million two years ago, it marked yet another step in Hitachi’s business model transformation. What was once known as a company in the hardware, infrastructure and storage space was rapidly becoming a software and services vendor. And HDS was anticipating that the real enterprise computing action would continue shifting to the edge where “internet of things” devices and data were gathering en masse.

“What they said was, ‘Let’s play from our strengths,’ which is devices, [internet of things], and industrial internet. They’re sort of marrying [information technology] and [operational technology] together and attacking a trillion-dollar marketplace,” said Dave Vellante, (@dvellante, pictured, center), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the PentahoWorld event in Orlando, Florida.

Vellante was joined by co-hosts Rebecca Knight (@knightrm, pictured, right) and James Kobielus (@jameskobielus, pictured, left). They discussed how the Pentaho acquisition fit with the company’s enterprise business plans, the future of open-source deep learning, and leveraging the company’s technology for social good. (* Disclosure below.)

Combined units into Hitachi Vantara

In September, Hitachi Vantara was introduced to the world. It was a new entity that combined HDS, Pentaho and Hitachi Insight Group. Pentaho had already established itself as a spearhead for open-source predictive data analytics and data mining by the time of the acquisition.

“They had become a big data player in their own right, with a strong focus on data analytics,” said Kobielus, who speculated about Hitachi Vantara’s plans in the area of open-source deep learning frameworks. “Maybe they’ll take an IBM-like approach, where they’ll bundle support for two or more third-party tools or open-source codebases into their solution.”

HDS executives are also framing its newly merged business around the concept of a “double bottom line.” With Hitachi Vantara, the focus will be not only on better business outcomes for customers, but on societal improvement as well.

“They’re using Pentaho to solve problems in healthcare data, in keeping kids from dropping out of college, and getting computing to underserved areas,” Knight said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of PentahoWorld. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for PentahoWorld. Neither Hitachi Vantara, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE