The importance of networking
Computing giant HP has focused primarily on the high-margin enterprise sector in recent years, at least if its acquisitions are anything to go by.
A couple of years ago HP splashed-out $13.9 billion on IT services giant EDS then, last November, announced it was going to find a further $2.7 billion to buy networking company 3Com. The latter was approved last week and HP has wasted little time in unveiling what the grand plan is.
3Com will be combined with HP's existing ProCurve offering to form the new HP Networking portfolio, which in turn is part of the HP Converged Infrastructure strategy. The way in which HP is looking to differentiate itself from the likes of Cisco in this market is by providing greater flexibility, lower cost of ownership and a simplified client interface.
"Clients need a reduction in complexity, more efficiency and greater flexibility in their networking solutions," said SVP and GM of HP Networking Marius Haas. "HP's integrated networking portfolio challenges the status quo with more innovative technology that enables convergence across servers, storage and networking, at better economics to help clients deliver the outcomes that matter most to them."
To prove how great this new offering is, HP announced its newest internal data centre is running entirely on HP Networking equipment and, as a result, is experiencing faster throughput and lower energy consumption. While this is obviously a more controlled environment than can reasonably be expected of third parties when they deploy this kit, it is an initial validation of HP as a major force in this market.
