Cirata

Cirata PLC, formerly known as WANdisco, operates as a public software company specializing in data migration and integration. Founded in 2005 by David Richards and Dr. Yeturu Aahlad, the company, whose original name stood for Wide Area Network Distributed Computing, went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2012 without raising any venture capital. A significant shift occurred in August 2023 when shareholders approved a name change to Cirata, a blend of "cirrus cloud" and "data," to create a new brand identity following a period of internal challenges. This rebranding initiative was led by Stephen Kelly, a seasoned technology executive with leadership experience at Sage, Micro Focus, and Chordiant, who was appointed CEO in May 2023 to steer the company forward. In a strategic move to sharpen its focus on its core data business, Cirata divested its DevOps assets to BlueOptima in August 2025.

The company's core business revolves around enabling large enterprises to migrate massive datasets, particularly from on-premises Hadoop environments, to cloud platforms for advanced analytics and AI applications. It serves a diverse client base across industries such as automotive, financial services, and telecommunications, counting organizations like General Motors and NatWest as customers. Cirata's business model centers on its patented Active Data Replication technology, including its Distributed Coordination Engine (DConE®), which allows for the continuous and automated transfer of data without system downtime or business disruption. Revenue is generated through the sale of its software solutions, including its flagship product, Data Migrator. This product facilitates the movement of HDFS data, Hive metadata, and other data sources to any cloud or on-premise environment while the data is still actively being used.

Cirata’s primary offering, Data Migrator, addresses the critical challenge of modernizing data architecture with minimal risk. The solution is designed to automate the migration process, eliminating the need for custom coding and reducing the burden on IT staff. It ensures data consistency between on-premises and cloud environments, allowing businesses to operate in hybrid or multi-cloud settings seamlessly. A key benefit is the prevention of vendor lock-in, providing clients the flexibility to choose their preferred cloud analytics technologies. The company offers its solutions directly and through major cloud partners like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. By ensuring that data remains accessible and consistent during migration, Cirata enables enterprises to accelerate the adoption of AI and machine learning to derive business value from their data faster.

Keywords: data migration, cloud data integration, Hadoop migration, active data replication, big data, hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, data modernization, data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, Distributed Coordination Engine, DConE, Data Migrator, data lake modernization, live data movement, disaster recovery, cloud analytics, enterprise software, data architecture, data consistency, zero-downtime migration, automated data transfer, WANdisco, Stephen Kelly, Yeturu Aahlad