HP Hooks Into Andreesen’s Opsware

In a major boost for Marc Andreesen’s data center automation software
company, Opsware has struck a deal with Hewlett-Packard
to integrate its software with HP’s Utility Data Center
information technology management software.

HP’s Utility Data Center combines hardware and software enabling customers
to deploy a variety of different computing resources and to automate a
variety of applications functions.

Opsware was created back in August of last year after Loudcloud unloaded its Web-hosting business to computer services firm EDS. Opsware and HP are expected to meld their software and services in an integrated product later this year.

Opsware, formerly known as Loudcloud, will announce its first quarter
financial results at the close of the market on Tuesday. Opsware says it’s
the leading provider of data center automation (DCA) software, automating
“provisioning, deploying, changing, scaling, securing, recovering,
consolidating, auditing and reallocating servers and business applications.”

Both HP and Opsware market their enterprise solutions as a way of cutting
into operating costs by maximizing the efficiency of labor, as well as
computer hardware and software. According to a recent study by IDC, 40 percent of
230 surveyed IT and business managers in U.S. companies with 500 or more
employees responded that cost containment, IT budget management, and ‘doing
more with less’ were high priorities in 2003.

In addition to the Opsware deal, HP also made several other announcements on
Monday.

HP said it is making a push into the network attached storage (NAS) market
with the expansion of its StorageWorks portfolio. HP says it will deliver an
network attached file serve for enterprises running Windows-Powered HP
StorageWorks NAS 1000s. The product is designed for small- and medium-sized
businesses looking for a reasonably priced file serving solution.

HP’s StorageWorks NAS b3000 solution enables customers to consolidate their
Microsoft Exchange server environment by combining
storage area network (SAN) and NAS into a single, managed storage location.

In a separate development, HP said it is working with LEGATO Systems, Inc.
to deliver customers “enterprise email archiving
solutions to existing and new customers. The solutions are targeted toward
organizations seeking to efficiently route, store, manage and retrieve
electronic mail information, and to help meet the special needs of those
facing heightened regulatory requirements,” the companies said in a
statement.

Similar to the Opsware deal, HP will resell a software partner’s product. In
this case, HP said it will be reselling “LEGATO EmailXtender as part of a
solution for providing comprehensive data storage and retrieval for
enterprise e-mail. The EmailXtender family supports Microsoft
Exchange/Outlook, Lotus Notes/Domino, Bloomberg Mail and UNIX Sendmail, as
well as instant messaging.”

On Monday, HP also said it will provide “strong support” for Microsoft
Exchange Server 2003 and SharePoint products and services. HP also said its
ProLiant Servers will work with Exchange 2003 and Exchange Server 2003.

HP also was quick to point on Monday that for the second consecutive quarter
is selling more notebook PC’s than any other company in the world.
Currently, according to IDC, HP has 15.9 percent unit market share of
worldwide notebook PC sales, increasing its overall market share by 1.1
percent on 6 percent unit growth.

In the U.S., HP Personal Systems Group says it “holds the No. 2 position
with 18.9 percent of the market. HP increased unit sales 7.4 percent
sequentially, while the market leader’s unit growth declined by 2.4
percent.”

On Monday, HP also said it is introducing a new desktop PC model designed
for small business and public sector customers.

The HP Business Desktop d325 features the AMD Athlon XP
processors, along with integrated NVIDIA GeForce4 MX
graphics, and built-in dual-monitor functionality. HP says it expects prices
start at $499, with more advanced configurations costing around $699. The
more advanced configuration would include AMD Athlon XP model 2200+
processor (1.8 gigahertz), 40-gigabyte hard drive, 256-megabyte DDR (double
data rate) SynchDRAM, 48x CD-ROM drive, six USB 2.0 ports and Microsoft
Windows XP Professional.

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