$ANY HVE Wins VDI Deployment Contract with University of North Alabama

HVE’s Datrium ready nodes and 3D GFX vGPU appliances, along with Datrium DVX NetShelf, come together to provide a predictable cost model and the ability to scale to 1000’s of users

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 13, 2017 — Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY), a containerization, virtualization, and data management solutions provider, is pleased to announce that its HVE ConneXions has been awarded a contract with the University of North Alabama (UNA) to deploy next-generation desktop virtualization solutions.  UNA’s technology staff went through an eight-month process to evaluate multiple vendors, and ultimately chose HVE ConneXions as it provides the most robust, cost effective and proven solution to meet their requirements.

Howard Technologies, a partner for over three years, presented to UNA both the HVE technology and an overall architecture that included leading edge technology integrated with HVE’s VDI appliances to support their overall desktop virtualization footprint.  UNA implemented two HVE-202-Ds (Datrium Ready VDI Nodes for 200 Users) and two HVE-3DGFX vGPU VDI appliances, coupled with an OpenConverged Datrium DVX NetShelf solution.  This architecture will allow the UNA virtualization environment to scale from a few hundred to thousands of sessions while maintaining a predictable cost model and increase performance as the consumption grows.

HVE’s turnkey solution was implemented, and training completed, within a week at UNA.   Also, as part of the solution, HVE and Datrium are providing 24×7 proactive monitoring and support, which is a unique offering when compared to other providers, and  an additional deciding factor for UNA.

Stephen Putman, Chief Information Officer for UNA, said, “The decision to go with VDI at UNA had been debated for many years.  After deciding to pursue VDI initially for labs and classrooms, we quickly realized finding the right technology was a challenge. We contacted several technology providers and were overwhelmed with the number of available solutions. HVE ConneXions was presented to us by Howard Technologies and we quickly realized HVE was very knowledgable and had put much research and  development into providing a highly optimized VDI  solution.”

Putman added, “HVE coupled with Datrium provided the most comprehensive long-term solution with outstanding performance and overall viability. Also, their track record in education is excellent, and their responsiveness to quickly address any technology challenges in the implementation was impeccable. This purchase allows our staff and academic community to reap the benefits of VDI by delivering applications more rapidly than in the past and allows the ITS department to provide UNA  with predictable performance and a cost-effective model for expansion.”

Greg Horsleyl, Senior Account Executive for Datrium stated, “HVE and Datrium provide a best of breed solution through their purpose built compute and storage specifically designed for VDI that scales to meet any requirement.  Architected, implemented, and monitored by HVE ConneXions and Datrium, we are able to provide UNA white glove customer service from start to finish.”

Dave Harmon, VP of Virtualization for Sphere 3D said, “HVE, Howard and Datrium technology staff went through a comprehensive process of environment analysis, VDI infrastructure requirements, and onsite interviews with UNA staff to determine their goals and expectations of a desktop virtualization solution.We were told that other vendors were focused on meeting the budget and failed to address the unique requirements at hand for UNA.”

Harmon added, “We believe it was HVE’s overall end-to-end solution that encompasses all aspects of VDI, our high-level of customer satisfaction and virtualization competency, that set us apart for this win.  It’s a great partnership with UNA, Howard, Datrium and HVE that will prove to be beneficial for UNA‘s technology education objectives long-term.”

About University of North Alabama
University of North Alabama (UNA), located in Florence, Alabama is listed in “US News and World Report America’s Best Colleges” as an institution that offers a quality education at an affordable price. UNA is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the United States, founded in 1830. UNA offers fully-accredited programs in over 100 different undergraduate or graduate options in four different colleges.  For more information on UNA, visit www.una.edu.

About Howard Technologies
Howard Technology Solutions, a value-added reseller, based out of Ellisville, Mississippi, strives to bring to market cutting-edge, reliable, high-quality technology equipment at affordable prices. Visit www.howardcomputers.com/education for more information on Howard Technology solutions for education.

About Datrium
Datrium is the leader in Open Convergence for private clouds. Datrium converges storage and compute in a radical new way—modeled on public cloud IaaS versus traditional converged infrastructure or hyper-convergence—for vastly simpler performance and predictability. The company is led by the founders and early top architects of Data Domain and VMware. Datrium has been named to Gartner’s Cool Vendors in Storage Technologies, 2016. For more information, visit www.datrium.com and follow @datriumstorage on Twitter.

About HVE
HVE ConneXions, recently acquired by Sphere 3D, is a fast-growing technology provider of next generation converged and hyperconverged infrastructure. Its engineering philosophy is dedicated to creating Manageable, Scalable, Reproducible, and Predictable (MSRP) solutions based on proven virtualization technologies running on high-performance, next generation platforms. For more information and technical specifications on the HVE product line, visit www.hveconnexions.com.

About Sphere 3D
Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY) delivers containerization, virtualization, and data management solutions via hybrid Cloud, Cloud and on-premises implementations through its global reseller network and professional services organization. Sphere 3D, along with its wholly owned subsidiaries Overland Storage, and Tandberg Data, has a strong portfolio of brands, including HVE ConneXions and UCX ConneXions, dedicated to helping customers achieve their IT goals. For more information, visit www.sphere3d.com. Follow us on Twitter @Sphere3D and @ovltb.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, including the market adoption, actual performance and functionality of our products, both on a stand-alone and integrated basis; our inability to comply with the covenants in our credit facilities or to obtain additional debt or equity financing; any increase in our future cash needs; our ability to successfully integrate the UCX and HVE ConneXions business with Sphere 3D’s other businesses;  our ability to regain compliance with the NASDAQ minimum closing bid price requirement between now and July 31, 2017; our inability to take other actions to regain compliance with the NASDAQ minimum closing bid price requirement; our ability to maintain compliance with other NASDAQ Capital Market listing requirements; unforeseen changes in the course of Sphere 3D’s business or the business of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Overland Storage and Tandberg Data; the level of success of our collaborations and business partnerships; possible actions by customers, partners, suppliers, competitors or regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in Sphere 3D’s periodic reports contained in our Annual Information Form and other filings with Canadian securities regulators (www.sedar.com) and in prior periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Sphere 3D undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Sphere 3D Press Contact:
Tina Brown
Tel: +1 408-283-4731
media.relations@sphere3d.com  

Sphere 3D Investor Contact:
The Blueshirt Group
Mike Bishop
Tel: +1 415-217-4968
mike@blueshirtgroup.com