Alces Software (alces-software.com)
Alces Software is a UK-based company (founded around 2005–2008 in Bicester, Oxfordshire) specializing in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and AI infrastructure.
What they do
They design, build, deploy, and manage complex HPC and AI systems, helping organizations (especially in health services, bioscience, pharmaceuticals, and research) create powerful compute clusters without unnecessary complexity or high costs.
Key offerings include:
- Alces Flight — Their flagship tool for one-click deployment of HPC clusters (available for free in major cloud marketplaces since 2015).
- Alces Flight Center — A web-based platform for managing HPC/AI environments.
- Concertim — Pay-as-you-go managed services and subscriptions for HPC and AI systems (launched 2024).
They started by supporting major global HPC vendors behind the scenes, then shifted to independent, user-focused solutions. They emphasize simplicity, lower cost of ownership, and integration of traditional HPC with modern AI technologies.
Their beliefs and philosophy
Alces Software operates on a strong set of principles:
- Vendor independence is a cornerstone — They avoid ties to single hardware/software suppliers and do not resell hardware for profit. This gives them (and their customers) freedom from lock-in and biased recommendations.
- Open-source beliefs — They heavily favor and contribute to open-source tools to reduce complexity and empower users.
- Ecological/sustainability focus — They blend open-source principles with environmental awareness, aiming for tangible benefits to users, the environment, and the community. In 2023 they launched the “Sustainable Reality” event to highlight how open-source HPC can deliver ecological and practical gains.
- Making the world better — Their founding motivation is “to make the world a better place” by simplifying advanced computing, cutting through vendor noise, and sharing objectives with like-minded communities. They prioritize long-term, sustainable infrastructure decisions over short-term gains.
In short, Alces positions itself as an independent, user-centric enabler in the HPC/AI space — focused on freedom from vendor lock-in, open-source values, sustainability, and practical, accessible high-performance computing that delivers real-world benefits.