BARCELONA, SPAIN – With the release of HP’s next generation Cloud Systems with Cloud OS, the company has firmly joined other vendors in the hybrid cloud club. But, what makes the Palo Alto, Calif.-based technology giant’s offering different is that customers will be able to get up and running with the HP Cloud Systems in the same way as if they purchased it with a credit card with one of the major public cloud providers.
At the HP Discover Conference, held here, Saar Gillai, the senior vice president and GM of HP Cloud, introduced 20 new cloud tools lead off by HP Cloud Systems and Cloud OS.
“We have been driving private cloud since 2009, but this next generation HP Cloud Systems with Cloud OS will address how you get to the revenue,” Gillai said.
In the past, companies would need at least six months to implement a cloud either on their own or with the help of a solution provider. Gillai said this did not compare favourably with mainstream public cloud providers where customers would use a credit card and get to the cloud instantly.
“We have redesigned the interface for a consumer inspired experience and with that you can have the cloud running in hours,” he added.
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Frances Guida, the manager, cloud solutions for HP’s Enterprise Group, told CDN the consumer inspired interface incorporates search, social media and portals. It has been designed for the way people use technology today similar to Microsoft Windows 8. “Traditionally this is not what tech companies deliver. It’s more like what people recognize,” she said.
Another key part of HP’s cloud strategy is to have HP Cloud Systems and Cloud OS bridge existing IT in an environment with the cloud in a hybrid fashion.
Certain challenges such as security, internal technology silos, security management, and interoperability come with hybrid cloud deployments, Gillai admitted
Gillai is confident that HP has addressed these areas with Cloud Systems and the other cloud tools released at HP Discover. “HP needs to make hybrid real.”
One of the ways HP is addressing these concerns is by supporting OpenStack and by working in partnership with cloud solution providers such as Arsys and SFR in Europe.
“This will help support existing customers on premise solutions that are enterprise grade with cloud economics, which include pay-for-use and instant scalability of server, storage, networking and software capacity,” Gillai said.
The next generation Cloud Systems are targeted for enterprises and service providers as a managed on premise/public cloud resource. Cloud Systems will also be integrated with HP Converged Systems products that were released yesterday at HP Discover.
Currently HP has 140 channel partners signed up for its HP Cloud Centre of Excellence. “The channel is an important part of Cloud Systems and they can deliver more value from two perspectives: it’s anchored with the Converged Systems line now and the second thing is channel partners can do more software installations and service,” she added.
Some of the other cloud tools released at HP Discover are:
- HP Hybrid Cloud Management Platform;
- A new self-service cloud marketplace portal;
- HP Virtual Private Cloud based on OpenStack;
- A light version of HP Virtual Private Cloud;
- A Hybrid Cloud Consulting Service; and
- A new HP Hybrid Cloud Design Professional Service.
Another significant addition to the HP cloud announcement was the introduction of Flexible Capacity. You can read more about that by clicking here.