HPE aims to make its product lineup as-a-service, updates GreenLake, unveils Primera storage
Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it will offer its portfolio as-a-service by 2022, rolled out a new storage line called Primera and updated its hybrid cloud and edge computing lineups.
The announcements, delivered at HPE Discover, fall in line with HPE's strategy outlined in October. HPE's most recent quarter highlighted strength in its Nimble storage line as rivals warned about a sales slowdown. HPE's GreenLake orders were also strong as well as its high performance compute products, which will be bolstered via the acquisition of Cray.
Phil Davis, president of HPE's hybrid IT business and chief sales officer, said the move to a consumption-based model for customers allows the company to reach more customers and provide more choice. "Larger enterprise customers continue to go as a service, but also have on-premises," said Davis. "We will have right-sized offerings for midmarket and the lower end of the enterprise. Large enterprises have access to data centers, but smaller companies don't."
The headliner of HPE's as-a-service push revolves around GreenLake. GreenLake is HPE's hybrid cloud, data center and private cloud portfolio offered as a service. GreenLake will be offered in license, service and capital-expenditure models.
HPE added that GreenLake will offer new midmarket services via partnerships with CyrusOne, Equinix and Google Cloud. These partnerships enable to extend the on-premise IT as a service model to co-location data centers and the cloud. HPE will offer more of its software--Aruba Central, BlueData, CloudVolumes, InfoSight and OneView as subscriptions.
So far, HPE GreenLake is the company's fastest growing unit with more than $2.8 billion in total contract value, 600 customers and 400 partners selling it.
For the midmarket, HPE GreenLake will be preconfigured for compute, database, private cloud, storage and virtualization workloads. Systems will be optimized to save time on design and testing.
HPE will also launch GreenLake for Aruba for edge-networking as a service to cover enterprise Wi-Fi, edge switching, security and other tools.
Over time, HPE's business should have more recurring revenue and predictable results with an as-a-service model. Other key items include:
Primera storage
HPE outlined Primera, a new storage portfolio that aims to leverage its intellectual property and platforms from other systems into new systems built from scratch for artificial intelligence workloads.
The company's storage lineup including Nimble and 3Par are performing well, but Primera is designed for to compete for large enterprise accounts. Primera would likely compete with Dell EMC as well as Pure. "Primera is more of an extension to the portfolio with a new architecture that allows us to scale where we didn't historically," said Davis.
Primera has the following features:
- Self-installs in less than 20 minutes;
- Data reduction built in;
- Regular software updates;
- Deployments in multiple formats and payment models;
- 100% data availability guarantee;
- HPE InfoSight integration;
- A multi-node design.
- Primera will be available to order in August.
Composable infrastructure
HPE said its ProLiant DL 380/360/560 Gen-10 rack-based servers can be turned into composable infrastructure to automate deployment via its Composable Cloud application.
The company also said its customers can deploy HPE with its physical storage or VMware vSAN. HPE's composable portfolio also supports its HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged infrastructure.
HPE also updated its SimpliVity lineup including:
- HPE SimpliVity 325, which is designed for remote offices and runs on AMD EPYC with all-flash storage.
- SimpliVity 380 storage optimized node to aggregate copies from multiple implementations of SimpliVity.
- Automated configurations of Aruba switches when deploying HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged nodes.
HPE also launched HPE Nimble Storage disaggregated hyperconverged infrastructure platform. The aim is to integrate ProLiant servers and Nimble to simplify virtual machine management.
Aruba and edge computing
HPE said it is enhancing its Aruba Central platform to include analytics and assurance tools Aruba NetInsight and User Experience Insight as well as adding tools for software defined infrastructure management. Aruba Central will also have gateways to Amazon Web Services as well as Microsoft Azure as well as new workflow tools.
In addition, HPE said it is integrating smart sensor technology (ABB Ability) with its Aruba access points to blend operational technology equipment with sensors.
Other items include:
- Secure Edge Data Center for Microsoft Azure Stack, an appliance for Microsoft Azure Stack.
- HPE Edgeline IoT Quick Connect, which is designed to give customers the ability to monitor and control operation technology equipment such as machines and motors.
- Condition monitoring for operational technology via HPE PointNext Services.
- Integration with Microsoft Azure, ABB and PTC for IoT management.