HP (Nasdaq: HPQ) has announced its Security, Compliance and Continuity Services portfolio, as part of its Secure Advantage program, in an effort to help customers better meet their security needs, while minimizing costs and complexities.
Chris Whitener, chief security strategist of Secure Advantage at HP, explains the Secure Advantage program is a combination of a portfolio of services, products and channel partners that aim to serve the security needs of end-user customers.
The Security Compliance, and Continuity Services portfolio is an expansion of HP’s Secure Advantage strategy and portfolio, Whitener explained.
The portfolio is now available through channel partners worldwide and Whitener says HP has also selected some “specialized partners” who work in specific verticals such as oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and financial institutions to help deliver these services.
HP currently has 154,000 hardware and software resellers around the world, with about 69,000 of them being services resellers, Whitener said.
“One of the (biggest) problems customers face is that there are hundreds of security point providers and vendors out there,” he said. “Some companies may have 75 to 200 products installed just to be compliant. Customers are also computing in different (ways) – in house, outsourced and through the cloud.”
The HP Security, Compliance and Continuity Services portfolio consists of consulting, training and managed security services. Channel partners have the opportunity to provide their customers with a more comprehensive managed services offering in a menu-like format, Whitener said. The goal of the portfolio is to empower organizations to better manage business risks by protecting critical information and assets, analyzing security threats and enabling business continuity.
“HP Secure Advantage offers partners a unique opportunity to help meet customer needs by delivering a tailored service to them,” Whitener said. “Whether this is done in-house, outsourced or in the cloud, the integration capabilities will help reduce complexities and costs.”
Whitener says the portfolio is made up of 90 new security services, which include services around data protection, identity management, client automation and data centre and infrastructure protection.
“Customers no longer have to figure out how to pick the 200 best products out there to install,” he said. “They can use our portfolio to get a services-based direction to see what they need by using specific services that are tailored to their needs. We offer customers a complete lifecycle view, which helps save them money and takes out complexities.”
One of the new additions to the portfolio is what HP calls its Cloud Computing Security Assessment, which helps customers mitigate security risks as they transition their legacy infrastructures to the cloud.
HP also has its Application Security Center of Excellence (CoE) Services, which help prevent security attacks by allowing organizations to come up with a security strategy and program.
“Partnering with HP is a great opportunity because we have an open-relationship where we don’t lock our partners into pushing a certain solution,” Whitener said. “Our partners don’t have to just sell HP products. Customers choose the products they want in a menu-type format and our partners offer a range of services to meet their needs.”
Whitener says the pricing for these services depend on what the customer’s specific requirements and needs are.