Discovery Communications has invested in cloud automation software company DivvyCloud, bringing the three-year-old tech company’s investment round total to more than $3 million.
DivvyCloud has already been working with Discovery for about a year, the companies said in a statement announcing the investment. Discovery executives said they are hoping the company’s partnership with DivvyCloud can help Discovery scale its cloud-centered business options.
“Given the value that DivvyCloud has delivered to Discovery in our adoption of the cloud, we see a real potential for growth that we’re excited to be a part of,” said John Honeycutt, Discovery Communications CTO, in a statement. “The leadership team at DivvyCloud brings a compelling mix of deep technical expertise and operational experience to support critical enterprise solutions at scale.”
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DivvyCloud’s main product is the software-as-a-service BotFactory, which can automatically handle security, policy compliance and cost control issues that often entangle companies as they adopt cloud infrastructure. BotFactory is also available as an enterprise version and both versions are compatible with most major cloud platforms, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and OpenStack.
“We are very pleased with the confidence Discovery has shown in DivvyCloud by making this investment,” DivvyCloud CEO Brian Johnson said in the announcement. “Technology companies increasingly rely on the cloud to deliver value to their customers and DivvyCloud helps ensure these cloud strategies scale effectively.”
Discovery is one of a number of major DivvyCloud customers. Other users of DivvyCloud’s offerings include General Electric, Accelera Solutions, BlackMesh and others. DivvyCloud’s technologies can be used in a variety of situations and circumstances. For example, Accelera used DivvyCloud’s services to more efficiently manage the cloud services it offers to government agencies, a move that the companies said resulted in a 25 percent reduction in the bills Accelera pays for Amazon’s cloud hosting.
Nonetheless, Discovery’s investment into DivvyCloud represents yet another example of the media industry’s gradual move toward cloud services and virtual operations. For example, Sling TV this week began beta-testing cloud DVR. And last month, Charter Communications and Arris signed a warrant agreement committing Charter to buy shares of Arris depending on how much network and cloud equipment and service it buys.