Hurd signals shift in HP Labs strategy

HP hopes to put its research efforts to business use more efficiently

HP is planning a major consolidation at its HP Labs research division, cutting the current 150 individual projects down to a mere 20 or 30.

The new projects will be broader in scale and designed to better commercialise the research.

Projects will now be divided into five specific areas: 'information management', 'green computing', 'network infrastructure', 'cloud computing' and 'data transfers'. Each of HP's 23 labs will operate under a single Labs logo.

HP hopes that the reshuffle will allow the company to put its research efforts to business use more efficiently.

"HP Labs has a long history of delivering innovation that has changed the way people use technology," said HP chief executive Mark Hurd.

"The steps we are taking today will further strengthen HP Labs and help ensure that HP is focused on groundbreaking research that addresses customer needs and creates new growth opportunities for the company."

Cloud computing will be of special interest, as HP sees the industry moving beyond the 'software-as-a-service' model to a new structure which Hurd refers to as "everything as a service".

Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer at HP, said: "The next wave of services will anticipate the needs of people based on a real-time understanding of an individual's location and preferences."