HP and Microsoft team up to push collaboration services

HP and Microsoft have agreed to form a partnership that will see the companies bundle their cloud collaboration and communications platforms over the next four years.

The companies said that the deal would combine HP's Enterprise Cloud Services platforms with Microsoft's Office 365, Lync, SharePoint and Exchange platforms.

HP said that it will be reselling Office 365 with its Messaging, Collaboration and Real-Time Collaboration Enterprise Cloud Services platforms. Additionally, HP will be bundling its Enterprise Cloud Services platforms for private cloud deployments with the server editions of Microsoft's Exchange, SharePoint and Lync platforms.

"Large organisations, particularly those in regulated industries like financial services and the public sector, have demanding functionality and service level requirements," said Brandt Faatz, HP enterprise services vice president of workplace services.

"HP and Microsoft help meet these needs with a flexible range of global, cost-efficient, cloud-based productivity solutions running on the latest technology."

The companies said they would be launching the services in the UK, Australia and North America later this month, with global availability set to launch in the new year. HP and Microsoft plan to jointly handle deployment and support for the combined offerings.

The partnership with HP is the second major deal Microsoft has made in the communications space this week. The company recently unveiled a set of hardware offerings from Polycom that will be bundled with the Lync unified communications platform.