HPC NOW CONSULTING SL

Their core work

HPC NOW Consulting is a Barcelona-based specialist consultancy focused on high-performance computing infrastructure, strategy, and adoption for research and industry. They help organizations navigate the European HPC ecosystem — from exascale roadmaps and technology benchmarking to practical HPC deployment decisions. Their H2020 track record shows two distinct modes of contribution: strategic coordination at the European level (EXDCI-2, where they engaged with major HPC bodies like PRACE and ETP4HPC) and technical implementation work on energy-efficient hybrid computing platforms (HEROES). As a small firm operating in a highly specialized domain, they bring a combination of policy-level connectivity and hands-on HPC expertise that is rare among private SMEs.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 involvement (2018–2020), HPC NOW was embedded in the strategic coordination of the European HPC ecosystem through EXDCI-2 — contributing to exascale roadmaps, Centers of Excellence integration, and the broader European HPC strategy framework alongside bodies like PRACE and ETP4HPC. By 2021, their profile shifted markedly toward technical implementation: the HEROES project brought keywords around hybrid platforms and energy efficiency, signalling a pivot from governance-level advisory work to hands-on engineering of resource-efficient computing solutions. The trajectory points toward a consultancy that started with European HPC policy connectivity and is now building applied expertise in sustainable hybrid computing — a combination increasingly in demand as energy costs and green computing mandates converge.

HPC NOW is moving from high-level European HPC governance and strategy work toward practical consulting on energy-efficient hybrid computing — a well-timed repositioning as EU institutions and industry increasingly prioritize greener HPC infrastructure.

How they like to work

HPC NOW has not coordinated any H2020 projects, joining as a third party or junior participant in both cases — the typical footprint of a small specialist firm brought in for domain depth rather than project management. Their presence in EXDCI-2, a large multi-partner coordination action spanning the full European HPC landscape, shows they can operate effectively inside complex, high-visibility consortia. With 27 unique partners across 10 countries from only two projects, they punch significantly above their weight in network breadth, suggesting they enter collaborations with strong existing relationships already in place.

From just two projects, HPC NOW has touched 27 unique consortium partners across 10 countries — an unusually dense network for an SME, reflecting deep embeddedness in the European HPC research and infrastructure community rather than isolated project participation.

What sets them apart

HPC NOW occupies a rare niche as a private SME with verified access to European HPC strategy-making at the highest level — EXDCI-2 is not a peripheral project but the central EU coordination mechanism for exascale computing, and few private firms of this size appear in it. This gives them credibility and relationships that most commercial HPC consultancies cannot replicate. For a consortium that needs a credible, connected HPC advisory voice without the overhead of a large integrator, they offer something genuinely unusual: insider knowledge of European HPC governance combined with technical work on next-generation hybrid and energy-efficient platforms.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EXDCI-2
  Contributing to the EU's flagship HPC coordination initiative — covering exascale strategy, CoE integration, and roadmaps alongside PRACE and ETP4HPC — is exceptional for a two-person consultancy and marks them as genuinely embedded in the European HPC establishment.
• HEROES
  Their only directly EC-funded project, targeting hybrid eco-responsible HPC, demonstrates a concrete shift from strategy consulting into funded technical R&D on sustainable computing architectures.