Targeting IoT and edge computing, Wind River separates from Intel

Software company Wind River announced it will separate from Intel via a sale to private equity firm TPG. The move, Wind River executives said, would allow the company to target the market for internet of things, intelligent devices and edge computing with its industrial software products.

“This acquisition will establish Wind River as a leading independent software provider uniquely positioned to advance digital transformation within critical infrastructure segments with our comprehensive edge to cloud portfolio,” Jim Douglas, Wind River’s president, said in a release. “At the same time, TPG will provide Wind River with the flexibility and financial resources to fuel our many growth opportunities as a standalone software company that enables the deployment of safe, secure, and reliable intelligent systems.”

Intel purchased Wind River in 2009 for $884 million as part of the company’s effort to improve its position in mobile devices and embedded systems. But Intel has largely withdrawn from that sector in recent years, and its sale of Wind River to TPG essentially helps the company shed that portion of its business. Terms of Intel’s sale of Wind River to TPG were not disclosed.

RELATED: Wind River stressing its 'carrier-grade' NFV roots

Wind River sells software into a range of market sectors including aerospace, automotive and medical. In the telecom industry, the company counts the likes of Huawei, Raisecom and Telco Systems as customers. Huawei, for example, uses Wind River’s VxWorks software platform to “reduce the cost and time to develop new products.” The companies have worked together since 1999.

Wind River has been a longtime player in the telecom industry’s overall move to software and virtualization. Indeed, the company helped lead the creation of ETSI's NFV industry specification group in 2013. And the company’s work in the space continues: For example, just last week Intel said it would release Wind River’s “Titanium Cloud” to the Linux Foundation’s recently launched open source Akraino project, which is focused on edge computing systems and applications.