Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) Corp. is acquiring one of the fastest rising names on the business intelligence block as part of a strategic pivot into the connected universe. The Japanese technology giant has reportedly agreed to pay between $500 and $600 million for Pentaho Corp., which makes the deal the biggest exit in the category yet.

Founded all the way back in 2004, Pentaho is among the first players to have emerged from the crop of new-generation business intelligence providers that set out to loosen the grip of incumbent vendors such as Oracle and SAP SE on enterprise workers. The company offers an open-core suite for processing different types of information from various sources that is notable primarily for its breadth.

It’s described as an end-to-end platform for wrangling meaning out of business metrics that spans every step of the process from initial aggregation and integration to final presentation. That one-stop-shop approach is similar to the value proposition of Jaspersoft Inc., another business intelligence upstart that scored an eight-figure exit recently.

But there are a number of important differences between the two, including the fact that Pentaho’s software includes a dedicated integration layer under the hood that provides greater flexibility in connecting to third party systems. That’s key to Hitachi’s plans.

The company’s analytics strategy extends far beyond HDS to its primary industrial equipment and energy businesses. The conglomerate is moving down the same road as GE by hooking up its analog hardware to the digital grid, which requires an analytic nerve center to handle the flow of data. That’s where Pentaho comes in.

The firm’s platform provides Hitachi with the means to efficiently aggregate and integrate the data flooding in from the different corners of its vast industrial empire. The suite will serve as the foundation for an extensive “reference architecture” not unlike GE’s Predix platform that is set to unify the Japanese giant’s portfolio under a consistent interface aimed at exposing machine-generated data for developers.

Under the terms of the deal, Pentaho will continue to operate as an independent unit within Hitachi under the leadership of current head Quentin Gallivan and retain its brand. The transaction is set to close by June, pending customary closing conditions.