HP Launches HP Helion Cloud Portfolio, Will Invest Over $1B in Cloud

HP (HPQ) today unveiled the HP Helion portfolio of OpenStack–based cloud products and services, the first of many cloud investments for HP. The company also announced it will spend more than $1 billion over the next two years on cloud initiatives.

HP Helion includes OpenStack-based cloud products and services that allow organizations to build and manage workloads in hybrid IT environments. In addition, HP said HP Helion “creates an open ecosystem with a common management structure… and it integrates easily into [a] business through a wide range of delivery models.”

HP CEO Meg Whitman noted HP Helion supports the “New Style of IT” that is transforming how businesses operate.

“The ‘New Style of IT’ demands agility and openness,” Whitman said in an HP webcast earlier today. “Now more than ever, there is a demand for solutions that are open.”

According to a prepared statement, HP Helion “incorporates existing HP cloud offerings, new OpenStack technology–based products and professional and support services under a unified portfolio to help meet customers’ specific business requirements.” Martin Fink, HP executive vice president and chief technology officer, added he believes HP Helion will help customers manage IT problems that extend beyond the cloud.

“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,” Fink said in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, HP unveiled several new cloud products and services, including:

HP Helion OpenStack–based cloud services will be available globally through HP’s partner network. HP plans to provide OpenStack-based public cloud services in 20 data centers worldwide over the next 18 months and will enable HP PartnerOne for Cloud partners to deliver and resell OpenStack-based cloud services.

“OpenStack will provide security and affordability that will support the ‘New Style of IT,'” Steven Dietch, vice president of HP’s worldwide cloud for enterprise group, told Talkin’ Cloud. “At the end of the day, what we’re moving under HP Helion will be the core fabric of an enterprise.”

Prior to its HP Helion announcement, HP indicated it would leverage OpenStack to drive its hybrid cloud adoption model.

HP announced it had put the OpenStack Horizon project into production as a core technology for its new HP Public Cloud Console at the November 2013 OpenStack Design Summit and Conference. The company unveiled several OpenStack features and products during last year’s HP Discover conference as well.