HP Bets $1 Billion On Helion-Branded OpenStack Services and Tools

Last year, HP began making a lot of noise about its commitment to cloud computing overall, and the OpenStack platform in particular.  One of the centerpieces of HP's Converged Cloud strategy has been a public, open source IaaS cloud service based on OpenStack (dubbed HP Public Cloud). Now, the company has announced the HP Helion brand, and pledged to commit $1 billion over the next two years on products and services surrounding OpenStack, under Helion's branded umbrella. In addition to offering its free distribution of OpenStack, HP is putting all its other cloud offerings, including tools for workload management and software development, under the Helion brand.

"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 Martin Fink, executive vice president and chief technology officer, HP, in a statement. "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."

HP's OpenStack-based public cloud service will become available in 20 data centers over the next two years. And, in conjunction with Helion's launch, the company has introduced new cloud products and services, including:

HP Helion OpenStack Community edition: A commercial product line of OpenStack that is delivered, tested and supported by HP. An enhanced commercial edition targeting global enterprises and service providers will be released in the coming months.

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.

HP's OpenStack Technology Indemnification Program: Protects qualified customers using HP Helion OpenStack code from third-party patent, copyright and trade-secret infringement claims.

HP Helion OpenStack Professional Services: A new practice made up of HP's consultants, engineers and cloud technologists to assist customers with cloud planning, implementation and operation.

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. The company operates more than 80 data centers in 27 countries.

HP's OpenStack-based strategy stretches far beyond what Amazon is doing with its cloud services. HP's strategy appears to be a comprehensive attempt to provide end-to-end, flexible cloud tools and services. In that regard, it will join Rackspace, Red Hat, Cisco and IBM in attempting to appeal to large organizations focused on the cloud. In the end, though, as we've noted numerous times, players in the OpenStack arena are going to be differentiated by what kind of support they can offer, and HP has a lot of experience supporting enterprise users.