Microsoft Corp. announced Thursday that it has acquired the New Zealand-based startup GreenButton, which has a long, close relationship with Microsoft's Azure group.
The deal was first announced on a New Zealand government website, according to The Next Web. Microsoft confirmed the deal on its blog.
Neither company revealed information about the cost of the deal.
GreenButton is a cloud-computing company helping fields that require a significant amount of computer power - such as the science, engineering, finance or media industries - use the cloud more efficiently for running compute-intensive workloads, TechCrunch reported.
The industries do not need a recoding for the service. GreenButton has made a large amount of combinations with current software products that let these industries transfer work to the cloud. The service also provides an SDK for developers to combine the company's services with their current applications.
Microsoft said it will invest in developing the GreenButton team and services, which will stay in New Zealand after the deal. However, the startup will become part of Microsoft's Big Compete team within Azure, The Next Web reported.
GreenButton was started in 2006 by Scott Houston, a 25-year veteran in the IT industry. Before starting the company, Houston worked at Compaq Computer Corp. and was also the CIO of Weta Digital, an animation firm that worked on the Lord of the Rings movies.
The Wellington-based company signed an alliance agreement with Azure in 2011. The deal meant that Microsoft would use its Azure platform to promote GreenButton's technology, TechCrunch reported.
Microsoft will not sell GreenButton's services to new customers anymore, and will instead launch a new service that will merge GreenButton's technology with Azure. The new service is set to be released later this year.
Paul Muckleston, managing director of Microsoft New Zealand, said Microsoft's purchase is a sign that New Zealand is building world-class technologies, International Busines Times AU reported.
Houston said the purchase is great news for his team, GreenButton's investors and other Kiwi companies.
