HP puts $1bn in Cloud

HP has introduced HP Helion, a portfolio of cloud products and services that enable organisations to build, manage and consume workloads in hybrid IT environments.

HP Helion incorporates existing HP cloud offerings, new OpenStack technology-based products, and professional and support services under a unified portfolio to help meet customers’ specific business requirements.

HP also is extending its commitment to OpenStack technology and hybrid IT delivery‚Äîspanning traditional IT, public, private and managed clouds. HP plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next two years on cloud-related product and engineering initiatives, professional services and expanding HP Helion’s global reach.

As a result of more than three years of running OpenStack cloud services at scale in enterprise environments, HP understands that organisations require solutions that are open, secure and agile. As a founding platinum member of the OpenStack Foundation and a leader in the OpenStack and Cloud Foundry communities, HP has taken a central role in developing technologies that are built to meet enterprise requirements and to deliver OpenStack technologies and Cloud Foundry-based solutions to the global marketplace.

Customers in South Africa are challenged with how to manage, control and scale applications in a hybrid environment that spans multiple technology approaches,” said Frank van Rees, managing director, HP South Africa. “HP Helion provides the solutions and expertise customers need to select the right deployment model for their needs and obtain the greatest return for their investment.

HP Helion: Cloud offerings to meet the needs of enterprises worldwide

As part of the HP Helion portfolio, HP is introducing several new cloud products and services, including:

· HP Helion OpenStack Community edition—A commercial product line of OpenStack that is delivered, tested and supported by HP. Available today, the community edition is a free version ideal for proofs of concept, pilots and basic production workloads. An enhanced commercial edition that addresses the needs of global enterprises and service providers will be released in the coming months.

· HP Helion Development Platform—A Platform as a Service (PaaS) based on Cloud Foundry, offering IT departments and developers an open platform to build, deploy and manage applications quickly and easily. HP plans to release a preview version later this year.

¬∑ HP’s OpenStack Technology Indemnification Program‚ÄîProtects qualified customers using HP Helion OpenStack code from third-party patent, copyright and trade-secret infringement claims directed to OpenStack code alone or in combination with Linux code.

¬∑ HP Helion OpenStack Professional Services‚ÄîA new practice made up of HP’s experienced team of consultants, engineers and cloud technologists to assist customers with cloud planning, implementation and operational needs.

HP Helion OpenStack-based cloud services will be made available globally via HP’s partner network of more than 110 service providers worldwide and in HP data centres‚ÄîHP operates more than 80 data centres in 27 countries. HP plans to provide OpenStack-based public cloud services in 20 data centres worldwide over the next 18 months. HP will also enable HP PartnerOne for Cloud partners to deliver and resell OpenStack-based cloud services.

The new HP Helion cloud products and services join the company’s existing portfolio of hybrid cloud computing offerings, including the next-generation HP CloudSystem‚Äîrecently ranked as the leader in the Forrester Wave report for Private Cloud Solutions(1)‚ÄîHP Cloud Services Automation (CSA) software for managing hybrid IT environments, HP’s managed virtual private cloud offering and a range of cloud professional services.

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