HP's New Cloud Offerings Based on OpenStack Launched

HP introduced HP Helion, a portfolio of cloud products and services that enable organizations to build, manage and consume workloads in hybrid IT environments. It incorporates existing HP cloud offerings, new OpenStack technology-based products, and professional and support services under a unified portfolio. HP also is extending its commitment to OpenStack technology and hybrid IT delivery-spanning traditional IT, public, private and managed clouds. HP plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next two years on cloud-related product and engineering initiatives, professional services and expanding HP Helion's global reach.

As a founding platinum member of the OpenStack Foundation and a leader in the OpenStack and Cloud Foundry communities, HP has taken a central role in developing technologies that are built to meet enterprise requirements and to deliver OpenStack technologies and Cloud Foundry-based solutions to the global marketplace. "Customer challenges today extend beyond cloud. They include how to manage, control and scale applications in a hybrid environment that spans multiple technology approaches," said Aman Dokania, vice president and general manager, Cloud Division, HP Asia Pasific & Japan. "HP Helion provides the solutions and expertise customers need to select the right deployment model for their needs and obtain the greatest return for their investment."

As part of the HP Helion portfolio, HP is introducing several new cloud products and services, including:

1.HP Helion OpenStack Community edition-A commercial product line of OpenStack that is delivered, tested and supported by HP. Available today, the community edition is a free version ideal for proofs of concept, pilots and basic production workloads. An enhanced commercial edition that addresses the needs of global enterprises and service providers will be released in the coming months.

2.HP Helion Development Platform-A Platform as a Service (PaaS) based on Cloud Foundry, offering IT departments and developers an open platform to build, deploy and manage applications quickly and easily. HP plans to release a preview version later this year.

3.HP's OpenStack Technology Indemnification Program-Protects qualified customers using HP Helion OpenStack code from third-party patent, copyright and trade-secret infringement claims directed to OpenStack code alone or in combination with Linux code.

4.HP Helion OpenStack Professional Services-A new practice made up of HP's experienced team of consultants, engineers and cloud technologists to assist customers with cloud planning, implementation and operational needs.

HP Helion OpenStack-based cloud services will be made available globally via HP's partner network of more than 110 service providers worldwide and in HP data centers-HP operates more than 80 data centers in 27 countries. HP plans to provide OpenStack-based public cloud services in 20 data centers worldwide over the next 18 months. HP will also enable HP PartnerOne for Cloud partners to deliver and resell OpenStack-based cloud services.

The new HP Helion cloud products and services join the company's existing portfolio of hybrid cloud computing offerings, including the next-generation HP CloudSystem-recently ranked as the leader in the Forrester Wave report for Private Cloud Solutions(1)-HP Cloud Services Automation (CSA) software for managing hybrid IT environments, HP's managed virtual private cloud offering and a range of cloud professional services.