HP revamps cloud and software sales as the future is hybrid

Hewlett-Packard’s software boss Robert Youngjohns is to assume control over the company’s cloud research and development and product management, according to report in Fortune.

An internal memo from chief executive Meg Whitman reports that HP is to revamp the way developments in cloud computing are to be managed, with a new management reporting to Youngjohns. HP currently makes $4bn in revenue from software sales.

Cloud research and development, will still be led by Mark Interrante and cloud product management under Bill Hilf but will now be part of the Youngjohn’s software organization

In November HP is to be officially divided into two entities, HP Enterprise (which will include the cloud computing organisation) and HP Inc which will sell printers and PCs.

The HP Enterprise Group, which made $28 billion in sales in 2014, sells servers, storage and network equipment, in addition to software. It’s thought that HP aims to move cloud development closer to the hardware platforms in order to facilitate sales.

The change is aimed at helping HP Enterprise to capitalise on four major market opportunities, according to Whitman’s memo. “At Discover, we introduced four transformation areas to align with a $1 trillion in total addressable market,” writes Whitman. “If we can deliver on the promise of these transformations, we will enable a new era in business for our customers – one where ideas can be turned into value at the speed of imagination.”

First, Whitman said, HP must take an application-first view of their infrastructure. “No two applications will have the same profiles and no two companies will have the same requirements, so our customers each need unique hybrid infrastructure solutions that allow them to seamlessly manage thousands of applications across traditional IT and public, private and managed clouds,” said Whitman.

If the future is hybrid infrastructure, Whitman said, Hewlett Packard Enterprise must be organized to bring together all the pieces for a holistic view from the data centre to the cloud. To accomplish this, HP needs to manage the natural alignment between its cloud and software products.

The unified Cloud and the CDI Sales and Presales teams will be firmly embedded in the EG regional sales structures. “By integrating Cloud into EG Sales, we will offer one face to the customer to enable their transformation journeys to a hybrid infrastructure,” said Whitman.