Computing giants tap respective specialties in powering hybrid cloud offering
Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced a deal with Microsoft to use the software giant’s Azure platform as the preferred public cloud partner for HPE customers, and in turn having HPE serve as the preferred infrastructure and services provider for Microsoft’s hybrid cloud offerings.
The deal calls for both companies to work “across engineering and services to integrate innovative compute platforms that help customers optimize their IT environment, leverage new consumption models and accelerate their business further, faster.” The collaboration is set to include the introduction of a “hyper-converged” system integrating hybrid cloud capabilities under the HPE Hyper-Converged 250 for Microsoft Cloud Platform System Standard.
The platform is said to provide Azure services to data centers, including self-deployment of Windows and Linux workloads; taps Azure services for backup and disaster recovery; and uses HPE’s OneView for Microsoft System Center for an integrated management platform across all system components.
The two companies are also working on establishing HPE Azure Centers for Excellence in Palo Alto, California, and Houston designed to support hybrid cloud services. HPE said it will also certify an additional 5,000 “Azure Cloud Architects” to extend its enterprise service offerings.
“Hewlett Packard Enterprise is committed to helping businesses transform to hybrid cloud environments in order to drive growth and value,” said Meg Whitman, president and CEO of HPE, in a statement. “Public cloud services, like those Azure provides, are an important aspect of a hybrid cloud strategy and Microsoft Azure blends perfectly with HPE solutions to deliver what our customers need most.”
HPE last month was split off from Hewlett-Packard, taking on the hardware giant’s servers, storage, software and network gear business. The newly thinned HP maintains the company’s personal computer and printers business. The move resulted in tens of thousands of job cuts.
A recent report from IDC found HP at the end of the second quarter was the worldwide market share leader in the server business, garnering 25.4% of the $13.5 billion market.
Microsoft in October announced a hybrid cloud solution agreement with Dell that calls for modular Dell infrastructure to include Microsoft Cloud Platform System software and Azure services.
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