Q&A: HP’s Frances Guida and Eric Clark Discuss New Cloud Solutions

Finally, HP has introduced training programs to help data centers more effectively deploy cloud computing services including three HP ExpertONE certifications, HP Cloud Curriculum from HP Education Services, and HP Storage Consulting Services.

In an email interview, Frances Guida, manager for HP cloud solutions and infrastructure, enterprise servers, storage, and networking, and Eric Clark, VP of worldwide enterprise applications services, discussed the new cloud solutions and how they fall into its overall cloud offerings strategy.

WHIR: Can you tell me a bit more about how these new developments and offerings align with HP’s Converged Infrastructure strategy?

Frances Guida: Enterprises and service providers are building cloud environments to speed service delivery.  To deploy an on-demand service delivery environment that provides easy access to self-service resources, they need shared pools of interoperable resources, all managed through a common management platform. HP CloudSystem, which is at the heart of today’s announcements about building clouds, is built on HP Converged Infrastructure, providing the ideal foundation for a cloud environment with a common, modular architecture and common management.

WHIR: How does the HP Cloud Protection Program benefit customers?

FG: Clients have expressed some similar concerns on their journey to cloud adoption. One common hesitation we’ve noticed is regarding the security of a cloud environment. The HP Cloud Protection Program helps combat this from the start however, helping clients design and build an architecture that will allow clients to create a hybrid cloud environment that delivers the same level of security as a traditional IT environment. Key benefits to the program are faster security technology deployment based on proven experience and testing in HP’s Cloud Protection Center of Excellence, building block approach from the virtualization to the cloud service delivery layers, single source for cloud security architecture, and the integration of cloud security products, enhanced security for CloudSystem. HP consultants analyze discreet CloudSystem components (server, storage, network) and provide infrastructure layer-hardening of these components, and integrated security protection including HP security products (Tipping Point, ArcSight, Fortify) and extended HP partner solutions (including Intel, VMware, Symantec, Novell and others).

WHIR: What tools and expertise does the HP CloudAgile Service Provider Program offer to service providers?

FG: HP CloudAgile helps service providers deliver cloud services quickly, efficiently and cost effectively. HP CloudAgile offers service providers, including expanded sales capabilities with direct access to HP’s global sales force and its worldwide network of channel partners, new market opportunities delivering private cloud hosting and cloud bursting services enabled by the industry-leading HP Cloud System platform, robust go-to-market support, which includes joint planning and market development funds, significantly reduced development costs by leveraging complimentary resources, and accelerated deployment of cloud solutions while refocusing capital on innovation for enterprise growth, through programs available from HP Financial Services, the company’s leasing and asset life cycle management arm, including step financing that let’s service providers ramp expenses as revenue grows.

WHIR: Who are some of the European channel partners you’ve teamed up with for CloudSystem?

FG: HP partners with channel partners who are actively looking to offer customers expert advice and solutions to provision and manage Cloud services. The focus of this partner program are the HP Cloud Centers of Excellence, based on HP CloudSystem. There are 20 CCoEs up and running in EMEA, including Egypt’s Global Brands, France’s Cheops Technology, Germany’s Avnet Technology Solutions, Bechtle and Computacenter & Co., Italy’s Elmec, the Middle East’s Middle East Data’s Netherlands: Centric IT Solutions, Norway’s Atea, Poland’s ATM Systemy Informatyczne, Portugal’s Novabase, Qatar’s Qatar Datamation Systems, Russia’s IBS Group, Saudi Arabia’s National Computer Systems, South Africa’s Aptronics, Spain’s Ibermatica, UK’s Computacenter UK, Itex, Kelway UK: Computacenter UK, Itex, Kelway, OCSL and ProLinx Limited.

WHIR: Could you tell me more about the main benefits of HP Enterprise Cloud Services for SAP Development and Sandbox Solution?

Eric Clark: For many companies, SAP ERP is integral to the business. As new software features and functionality become available, IT managers are challenged to assess them without disrupting existing environments. The HP Enterprise Cloud Services for SAP Development and Sandbox Solution enable clients to quickly and cost effectively access development and sandbox environments for SAP Enterprise Resource Planning software via a virtual private cloud. The HP Enterprise Cloud Services for SAP Development and Sandbox Solution combine infrastructure, software and services to provide quick access to SAP ERP 6.0 via a virtual private cloud. As a result, clients can perform prototyping to assess the software’s new functionality and determine how it can benefit their current SAP production environments. HP delivers these services from secure commercial data centers around the globe where processing capacities can respond to changes in client demands and testing volumes. With pay-per-instance per-month pricing options, clients have the flexibility to choose their most cost-efficient option. Clients also have ready access to the functionalities they require without having to make a capital investment to stage a development or evaluation environment.