HPE Expands Small Business Solutions, Targets SMBs

HPE announced on Wednesday the HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 Plus designed for the small office or the remote-location branch office using the device as part of an edge platform. HPE calculates an employee count of 25 or fewer employees at these locations.

Calling the latest addition to the company’s Proliant Gen 10 portfolio “distraction-free IT,” HP’s new server is a configured, tested and validated solution that offers automated deployment, and a monthly subscription starting at less than $20 per month.

HPE’s Tim Peters

“Our mission at HPE is to be the vendor of choice for these sets of customers, especially as they graduate and move into their next chapter of growth and innovation,” Tim Peters, vice president and general manager, global SMB and midmarket at HPE, told Channel Futures.

The 10-pound unit is about the size of a typical hardcover book, offers a choice of Intel Xeon and Pentium processors, and up to 32GB RAM and 16TB internal storage that’s able to support virtualized and database workloads.

The ProLiant MicroServer Gen 10 Plus also offers HPE-exclusive silicon root of trust technology for data protection, and its ability to detect issues and recover from malicious firmware attacks.

That’s not the only first for this customer market segment. HPE InfoSight for Servers, the vendor’s cloud-based AI management, is also being offered to help customers monitor the health of their server and apply predictive analytics for proactive server management.

Additionally, HPE is offering options for users to run their applications. They can run them either on-premises or in the cloud, if their cloud services are supported by Microsoft Azure.

HPE outlines three business use cases to meet SMB needs: Office in a Box; scalable file and backup; and edge to cloud.

Office in a Box is tailored for up to 10 users in a variety of vertical markets.

“This solution is comprised of our Gen 10 Plus powered by Intel, our Aruba access points, a rugged local backup, and everything is wrapped around by our foundational care of services,” said Megan Zeigler, Manager, worldwide SMB and mid-market solutions and services team at HPE.

The entire box is priced at an entry point of less than $125/month.

“This also allows for unique capabilities and multiple functions for the server. So, you have virtualization, storage and backup in a single server. It’s great for remote and branch offices,” she said.

As a scalable file and backup solution, the device serves two purposes, one around file services and another back up. For file services, HPE is providing optimized configurations that allows for central access, faster performance and secure collaboration. Used for backup and recovery, the device protects data, offers fast data recovery and minimizes downtime.

The third use case is for powering the intelligent edge.

“With the MicroServer Gen 10 Plus, it provides the right amount of compute for remote and branch offices at the edge. With our optional cloud services from Microsoft Azure or MSPs, it can provide connectivity back to the home office,” said Zeigler. “It also allows for remote access and management to better enable the edge locations.”

The new servers are being sold only through partners.

“We’re very focused on trying to create these recipe-driven solutions which are focused on what [our partners] tell us are the hot spots they want to deploy,” he said.