HP debuts public cloud computing services as part of Converged Cloud strategy

HP is attempting to position itself as the go-to company for enterprise cloud computing with its new Converged Cloud strategy, aimed at providing a common architecture for both private and public clouds that builds upon the infrastructure customers already have.

Converged Cloud is as much about HP setting out its stall as a trusted partner for organisations building out their cloud computing infrastructure as it is about products and services.

However, the firm has detailed a number of new offerings including its first public cloud services, additional Cloud Maps, and updates to its FlexNetwork architecture to provide further network virtualisation capabilities.

HP said it sees hybrid cloud as the natural way forward for enterprise customers, and is looking to provide the services and expertise to enable this by tying all the disparate pieces of the puzzle together.

"Whether it is traditional IT, whether it is private cloud, whether it is public cloud, we will provide you with technology that will integrate all those together and will ourselves provide a very open solution giving customers a choice of operating systems, choice of hypervisors and a lot of flexibility in the stack," said David Chalmers, chief technology officer for HP storage, servers and networking in Europe.

In this respect, HP is following other major IT suppliers such as Dell and IBM in recognising that customers require a lot of hand holding with cloud computing, but are keen not to get locked into a proprietary solution and also do not want to ditch the existing infrastructure they have invested in.

HP will support OpenStack, VMware or other cloud platforms, but is pushing its management layer as the way to pull together different components from different providers within an overall cloud computing stack solution, including "cloud bursting", or migration of workloads between private and public infrastructure if required.

"We're very much looking to be as open as we can, so customers can use the most appropriate choice for them," Chalmers said.