Inside HPE’s $931m GreenLake contract to modernize DISA data centers

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE: HPE) has landed a $931 million, 10-year production agreement from the Defense Information Systems Agency, positioning its GreenLake platform at the heart of a major U.S. defense IT modernization effort. The Production Other Transaction Authority (pOTA) contract will deploy a distributed hybrid multi-cloud solution that transforms the way the Department of Defense delivers digital and artificial intelligence services to warfighters around the world.

Under this agreement, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will provide its HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Enterprise offering to create a secure, National Institute of Standards and Technology-compliant cloud environment capable of operating in both on-premises and air-gapped conditions. The deployment will unify and simplify DISA’s management of IT assets across both public and private clouds while enabling critical mission systems to run within a secure, zero trust environment. The contract follows the successful execution of a prototype phase initiated in 2024, in which Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company demonstrated GreenLake’s capabilities for secure, high-performance infrastructure delivery in complex military settings.

This deal represents a significant step in the Department of Defense’s broader push toward sovereign cloud infrastructure, and reflects the growing importance of hybrid platforms that offer both compliance and agility. For Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, it affirms GreenLake’s appeal in highly regulated, mission-critical environments and signals expanded momentum in the public sector cloud transformation space.

What does HPE’s $931 million contract with DISA reveal about shifting defense IT priorities?

The scale and structure of the agreement with the Defense Information Systems Agency suggests a deeper institutional shift in how defense organizations approach cloud adoption. Rather than leaning heavily on commercial hyperscaler platforms alone, the agency has opted for a sovereign, hybrid architecture that can operate with maximum security while maintaining cloud-native flexibility.

According to Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, the solution will allow DISA to deploy applications faster, improve responsiveness in dynamic global operations, and reduce management complexity by consolidating infrastructure silos. This project will also drive enhanced efficiency within DISA’s J9 Hosting and Compute functions, streamlining multiple environments into a single platform for compute, storage, and network orchestration.

The emphasis on performance, scalability, and autonomy reflects a growing consensus among federal IT leaders that defense cloud infrastructure must be purpose-built to meet the demands of national security. With latency-sensitive workloads, data sovereignty mandates, and zero trust compliance at the forefront, the design parameters for these systems differ fundamentally from those of commercial enterprise platforms.

How does GreenLake enable secure and sovereign cloud operations for military workloads?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s GreenLake Private Cloud Enterprise is designed from the ground up to support sovereign cloud use cases. For DISA, the platform will provide secure, multi-tenant support with built-in zero trust architecture, capable of isolating sensitive workloads within virtual private cloud environments. By deploying the solution on premises with air-gapped management, DISA will maintain operational control over key systems while minimizing external exposure.

The cloud infrastructure meets or exceeds National Institute of Standards and Technology benchmarks, enabling compatibility with Department of Defense security frameworks such as DISA STIGs and Zero Trust Reference Architecture. Features include continuous access controls, telemetry-based observability, encrypted data paths, and comprehensive audit capabilities, ensuring data flows remain within secure boundaries.

Unlike many commercial platforms that require data egress to public infrastructure for analytics or AI operations, GreenLake supports in-situ processing of AI workloads. This reduces latency while preserving compliance and reduces the risk of data interception during transmission.

Why is HPE’s win significant compared to past defense cloud awards?

This contract distinguishes Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company from its traditional positioning as a hardware-centric enterprise IT vendor. It signals GreenLake’s emergence as a full-scale hybrid cloud platform suitable for sovereign infrastructure environments. The deal follows earlier prototypes and smaller-scale defense initiatives but represents one of the first large production contracts where GreenLake will anchor a federal cloud modernization at this scale.

It also puts Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company in direct competition with hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, each of which has pursued major Department of Defense cloud contracts over the past decade. Notably, while Amazon and Microsoft continue to lead in terms of total federal cloud revenue, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s ability to offer a fully on-premises, air-gapped, and NIST-compliant architecture may allow it to carve out a defensible niche in security-sensitive environments.

The announcement also arrives as other nations seek to emulate sovereign cloud strategies, especially within the NATO framework. Industry watchers view this as a potential template for other agencies or allied governments seeking to maintain control over critical IT infrastructure while adopting modern cloud technologies.

How will DISA benefit operationally from this hybrid cloud transformation?

The Defense Information Systems Agency’s modernization effort through Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s GreenLake is expected to deliver several key operational advantages. First, it will enable rapid provisioning and deployment of new applications, reducing time to mission across departments and geographies. Second, the unified control plane will eliminate redundancies and manual interventions across systems, helping reduce human error and enabling faster incident response.

Importantly, the infrastructure is built for elasticity. As missions expand or change, DISA will be able to scale its compute and storage resources accordingly, without waiting for long hardware procurement cycles. GreenLake’s built-in support for telemetry, observability, and policy automation allows for real-time optimization of workloads, ensuring systems can adapt dynamically to shifting demands in defense and intelligence contexts.

Additionally, the platform will allow DISA to onboard next-generation technologies more easily, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and real-time analytics. These capabilities are critical to modern warfare scenarios where rapid data fusion and interpretation are required to inform battlefield decisions or cyber threat responses.

What are the implications for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s public sector growth strategy?

The successful expansion of GreenLake into a long-term federal production contract marks a critical validation for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s public sector ambitions. While the company has traditionally served enterprise and service provider markets, its focus on hybrid cloud and sovereign infrastructure is gaining momentum with government clients.

Executives at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company have emphasized that this win demonstrates the value of GreenLake as a sovereign cloud solution capable of meeting the world’s most demanding digital sovereignty requirements. The company’s broader strategy involves positioning GreenLake as a customizable, security-first alternative to hyperscale models, particularly for regulated industries and defense systems integrators.

Institutional analysts covering Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company have responded positively to the news. Shares of the company were trading slightly higher in the days following the announcement, with a five-day increase of approximately 3 percent noted by sector trackers. Investor sentiment remains constructive, with analysts noting the deal’s predictable long-term revenue stream and its potential to drive further defense and public sector adoption.

What are analysts watching for as this deal moves into production phase?

As implementation begins, analysts are likely to monitor the scalability and integration of the GreenLake deployment within the broader Department of Defense IT environment. Key metrics include time-to-deployment, system uptime, workload migration velocity, and security audit outcomes. Success in these areas could catalyze broader adoption of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s sovereign cloud model across other government clients.

Additionally, industry observers will watch for potential follow-on contracts or ecosystem expansions, including the integration of managed services, AI toolchains, and observability layers into the platform. Given that defense agencies increasingly require turnkey digital transformation solutions, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s ability to layer innovation atop the base GreenLake infrastructure could be a differentiator going forward.

The company may also face questions about supply chain resilience, hardware refresh cycles, and long-term service level compliance, all of which will factor into ongoing investor assessments. However, the current contract places Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company in a favorable position as hybrid cloud adoption accelerates across critical infrastructure sectors.

How are institutional investors reacting to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s position in sovereign cloud markets?

Investor sentiment for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company has shown renewed strength, particularly among those seeking stable infrastructure plays within the digital transformation space. The firm’s stock has maintained moderate upward momentum, and several institutional investors have increased exposure in recent quarters based on GreenLake’s growing adoption footprint.

While the hyperscaler trio continues to dominate broader cloud investment narratives, some analysts see Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company as a high-conviction value play for investors looking to hedge against regulatory risks and data sovereignty pressures. The DISA contract underscores GreenLake’s credibility not just as a platform but as a long-term infrastructure partner for governments and mission-driven enterprises.

In the broader IT infrastructure sector, this deal reinforces a strategic pivot toward hybrid architectures that combine public cloud capabilities with localized control, security, and performance. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s ability to operationalize that vision in defense-grade environments may pave the way for additional wins across sectors like energy, finance, and critical manufacturing.

What are the key takeaways from HPE’s $931 million sovereign cloud contract with DISA?

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE: HPE) has secured a 10-year, $931 million production agreement from the Defense Information Systems Agency to modernize U.S. defense data centers.

• The contract will deploy GreenLake Private Cloud Enterprise to create a sovereign, NIST-compliant hybrid cloud environment tailored for secure and air-gapped military operations.

• GreenLake will unify DISA’s IT resources across public and private clouds through a single hybrid control plane, simplifying operations and enhancing scalability.

• The deployment follows a successful prototype completed in 2024, validating GreenLake’s ability to meet mission-critical defense infrastructure standards.

• DISA aims to leverage the platform for AI-powered services, rapid application deployment, enhanced data analytics, and future-ready digital capabilities.

• The private cloud infrastructure will incorporate zero trust architecture, virtual private clouds, and multi-tenancy support, providing robust data privacy and operational resilience.

• Operational efficiencies include reduced IT management complexity, lower lifecycle costs, and faster workload provisioning across global defense networks.

• This deal strengthens HPE’s position in the public sector cloud market and offers a competitive edge against hyperscalers by providing sovereign cloud capabilities.

• Institutional sentiment has been positive, with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company shares rising roughly 3 percent over the five-day period surrounding the announcement.

• Analysts view the contract as a blueprint for future defense cloud models and a growth catalyst for HPE’s hybrid cloud strategy in regulated industries.