HP Makes Managed Services Move -- In India

I’ve been especially critical of Hewlett-Packard in recent months, openly wondering how the company has so badly missed the managed services market in the US. But a new partnership in India may provide some clues abou where HP is heading in the MSP space.

A case in point: Netmagic Solutions, a managed IT service provider in India, has inked a partnership with HP to service midmarket customers in such markets as retail, healthcare, utilities, education and manufacturing, according to a release from Netmagic. In order to win over potentially skeptical customers in the US, Netmagic promotes the fact that its data centers are ISO 27001 and SAS 70 Audit (Type II) compliant.

Other MSPs should follow that lead. Here’s why.

ISO 27001 is an information security management specification that leverages OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) principles, governing security of information and network systems.

In contrast, SAS 70 shows customers that a service organization has been thoroughly checked and deemed to have satisfactory controls and safeguards either when hosting specific information or processing information such as customer data, according to TechFAQ.

Together, the standards can potentially provide peace of mind to midmarket companies that need to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and other key standards.

HP’s Stunning Silence

The Netmagic partnership comes at an intriguing time for HP. As HP works to officially acquire Electronic Data Systems, I’ve wondered if the EDS deal will further distract HP from managed services opportunities. To date, the company has largely failed to transform HP OpenView from an enterprise systems solution into a managed services platform.

Meanwhile, other MSP platform providers such as Nimsoft claim to be beating HP to the punch within both the enterprise and the MSP space.

Moreover, HP has been largely silent while Dell has acquired such MSP platform providers as Silverback and Everdream, and articulated its managed services strategy to 75 partners.

Enter Netmagic. Although the deal with HP sounds like it focuses mostly on managed hosting, it could provide some hints about where HP will take its emerging managed services strategy over the next few months.