HP and Microsoft unifying business productivity tools

At Interop 2009 in Las Vegas, HP and Microsoft announced a joint initiative to deliver an end-to-end unified communications and collaboration solution that helps customers lower costs and enhance productivity. Available now, the solution is optimized for the HP ProCurve network infrastructure, enabling HP ProCurve customers to leverage their network investments by adding integrated instant messaging, voice, video, unified messaging, and presence applications.

Marius Haas, senior vice president and general manager for HP ProCurve, began the Interop keynote by discussing market-disrupting factors on the IT horizon and the next steps of the industry’s evolution. He then introduced Ann Livermore, executive vice president, Technology Solutions Group, HP, who detailed the new agreement and its benefits.

“Customers can lower costs and rapidly enhance employee productivity with unified communications and collaboration from HP and Microsoft,” said Livermore. “We provide customers with solutions that are rich, intuitive, and accessible from anywhere on nearly any device.”

The end-to-end solution – which is planned to span software, hardware, networking, and services – will enable customers to improve business output and reduce travel, telecom, and IT operating costs. That will be accomplished by streamlining communications across messaging, video, and voice with connected applications and devices. HP and Microsoft also plan to provide the flexibility and control customers need to manage their communications infrastructure efficiently.

The joint initiative builds on that network optimization with commitments to further integrate ProCurve products into the unified communications and collaboration solution. These developments will help customers improve productivity by mobilizing their workforces.

An HP ProCurve network delivers the quality of service, security, mobility, and reliability required for unified communications and collaboration applications. An HP ProCurve infrastructure provides:

• Quality of service (QoS) for the voice, video, and data traffic associated with unified communications and collaboration applications. HP ProCurve infrastructure integrates with Microsoft software to dynamically provision and enforce critical QoS policies from end-to-end.
• Robust security to protect vital business information. HP ProCurve works with Microsoft software to provide granular levels of network access control and enforce security policies at the network edge.
• Seamless mobility for diverse end-point devices, including smart phones and laptops. An HP ProCurve infrastructure converges wired and wireless networking for consistent user services.
• Reliable network operation enables enterprises to run IP-enabled line of business applications with complete confidence.

“Together, we are offering the extensive breadth of capabilities of our respective technologies to deliver a truly unified communications and collaboration solution to help our customers improve business productivity,” said Stephen Elop, president, Microsoft Business Division, Microsoft. “This means one click to communicate, one click to conference, one click to collaborate.”

As part of their Frontline Partnership, the two companies expect to invest up to an additional $180 million in product development, professional services, as well as joint sales and marketing, to help organizations lower cost and improve productivity. In addition, HP and Microsoft are further deepening their relationship to deliver joint products and services, product integration, research and development (R&D), sales engagement, and shared marketing initiatives.

The two companies will form joint teams to collaborate on products and services development across Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Office Communications Server, as well as HP ProCurve networking products.

In addition, the two companies will provide end-point interoperability with HP Halo Telepresence Solutions and Office Communications Server-based unified conferencing, enabling remote participants at any Office Communication Server-enabled PC to join telepresence conferences.

The results for ProCurve customers will be a broader unified communications product portfolio that utilizes HP ProCurve Networking and HP Halo Telepresence solutions to address the collaboration needs of organizations. In addition, ProCurve’s leading infrastructure solutions provide a strong foundation for Microsoft’s proven unified communications and collaboration technologies.

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