Following the first anniversary of its merger with Compaq, HP has debuted its `Adaptive Enterprise` strategy and solutions for southern Africa - a move designed to help companies across the region make more of their IT infrastructures.
The strategy is aimed primarily at medium to large enterprises seeking greater returns from their IT environments and their partners - factors that are particularly important in these lean economic times.
"We`ve been talking to customers and partners across southern Africa and it`s clear that IT`s role is changing," explains Norbert Gachet, enterprise channel manager for HP Africa.
"Technology must integrate business processes and information; be adaptable to keep pace with business and economic changes; balance flexibility with reliability; and must demonstrate some tangible value.
"Our Adaptive Enterprise strategy is really about building an IT infrastructure that`s more closely linked to how a business runs and is able to adapt [quickly and cost-effectively] to any changes in operations. Basically, we`re saying if you get your infrastructure right, everything else in your business becomes possible."
Far from being another IT industry clich'e, the Adaptive Enterprise is a series of hard deliverables. It`s split into two main areas: infrastructure hardware and software solutions; and services for sourcing, paying for and managing that infrastructure.
On the solutions side, HP is debuting a host of new offerings. These fall into the company`s familiar server, storage, networking and management software categories. And they form the basis for the six key pillars of the Adaptive Enterprise strategy, namely: enterprise integration, IT consolidation, virtualisation, management, business continuity and security.
"It doesn`t really matter what platform a customer is running on the enterprise - HP-UX, Linux or Windows - these products are designed to help manage costs, increase quality, alleviate risk and improve agility," says Gachet.
On the sourcing side, HP is offering a range of options. Computing-on-demand options mean companies can pay for the IT they use, as they use it. Managed Services allows customers to in- or outsource management of their infrastructure according to their specific needs. Integrated support offers holistic service level agreements to manage an Adaptive Enterprise. And HP`s financial services make the transition to the Adaptive Enterprise easier on the corporate wallet. The new strategy is set to come to the African market in the next few months. It will be delivered through the combined efforts of HP`s regional team and its network of systems integrators and business partners.
The initial focus of the drive will be to spend time talking to customers, discussing the possibilities of the Adaptive Enterprise in each individual case. Gachet is quick to reaffirm, however, that this is not about forcing companies to upgrade their systems or invest in new technology needlessly.
"We`re looking to work with our customers and demonstrating how it`s possible to transform their existing infrastructure into one that`s more agile and able to respond to business changes. The essence of the Adaptive Enterprise is real value, not over-the-top investment," he says.
Additional detail on how to architect, manage and measure an adaptive enterprise is available at www.hp.com/products1/promos/adaptive_enterprise/us/index_a.html. More information on HP`s solutions and activities in Africa can be found at www.hp.com/africa.
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