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Liveblog: HP Americas Partner Conference 2011: Day 2 Morning

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Dave Donatelli

HP ESSN chief Dave Donatelli

LAS VEGAS — Hewlett-Packard’s Americas Partner Conference opens Tuesday morning with

On the agenda, the company’s enterprise business and ESSN executives with an update on the company’s strategy in the enterprise space. Likely to be right at the top of the list — a more complete rundown of HP’s cloud strategy (shared in a big picture kind of way by HP CEO Leo Apotheker yesterday) a it pertains to the company’s enterprise business.

The keynotes kick off shortly after 8:00 am Pacific time, and we’ll have a full liveblog with details. Join us!

Check out our liveblog after the jump. Also, check out our full APC 2011 News Centre for all the headlines from the event here in Las Vegas.

  HP APC 2011 Day 2 Morning (03/29/2011) 
8:10
Good morning from Las Vegas! Partners have settled in, the execs have taken their seats in the front of the house, and we’re about ready to get underway with the APC Tuesday-morning keynotes.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:10 
8:13
Opening video profiling work done by HP, CDW and the Dallas Cowboys.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:13 
8:15
Stephen DiFranco up first to open up the morning — says the focus shifts from general strategy yesterday to the product portfolio today.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:15 
8:16
DiFranco giving some dap to Synnex chief Kevin Murai for helping to show the channel how to develop for webOS — Synnex created the APC 2011 mobile app for Palm devices “and for the other mobile devices that you’ll soon retire.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:16 
8:17
“We are on Twitter, we’re on Facebook, we’re all over the place,” DiFranco says.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:17 
8:20
Subjects du jour: ESSN hardware, HP software, and HP services. Kicking it off, Ann Livermore.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:20 
8:23
Livermore says partners play a critical role in HP’s enterprise business — selling about three servers per minute out of 5 servers shipped. Partners also influence 60 per cent of software deals, 50 per cent of networking revenue is driven by partners.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:23 
8:24
Detailing the “instant on enterprise” strategy launched last fall — says it was driven by the need for “a different kind of enterprise,” businesses that “act instantly, because that’s the way the world is.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:24 
8:26
Over the next decade, 4 billion people online, Livermore says, 31 billion connected devices. “It’s not just a question of people being online, but of things being online.” 1.3 trillion sensors bringing new services and capabilities brought into the market.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:26 
8:26
That should lead to “more and more things being offered as a service,” Livermore posits.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:26 
8:28
“Successful enterprises will use technology to take time out of the equation,” Livermore says. The idea is that business services and transactions will be delivered instantly through any channel.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:28 
8:28
There are five big problems standing in the way of that, Livermore says.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:28 
8:29
1) Rigid infrastructure
2) Apps not architeced for change
3) unkown threats in the connected world
4) An explosion in information
5) Current, custom stacks of hardware and software not easy to change
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:29 
8:31
HP will continue to focus on both volumes of products and solutions, and at the same time, work with partners to evolve solutions “to whatever it is your business strategy calls for.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:31 
8:32

Expect HP to “push even harder” on networking. “Some of you have seen the results, and we’re causing our competitors some pain,” Livermore says.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:32 
8:34
Top service/solutions opportunities on the road to “instant on” for partners:
1) Application transformation
2) Converged infrastructure
3) Enterprise security
4) Information optimization
5) Hybrid delivery models
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:34 
8:35
“We want to position HP in the minds of the market and our customers, as the company to team with” in transitioning from traditional technology stack to hybrid and full cloud.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:35 
8:37
And with that, Livermore hands things over to ESSN chief Dave Donatelli to go deeper into the converged infrastructure play.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:37 
8:39

Donatelli calls the channel one of HP’s crown jewels.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:39 
8:39
ESSN grew 26 per cent year-over-year, would be a Fortune 100 business on its own. Continuing to grow 22 per cent in Q1.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:39 
8:40
More than 50 per cent of ESSN revenues in the Americas comes from HP, and Donatelli says that’s growing, which is all the more remarkable since many of HP’s acquisitions aren’t channel-facing when they’re purchased.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:40 
8:40
HP partners grew their business $1 billion in the Americas last year.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:40 
8:41
HP sees cloud as a $143 billion opportunity by 2013. “We have technology today that you can take to any customer in the world and help them implement their cloud strategy. This opportunity is here now.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:41 
8:42
Donatelli: “Our goal is to have best infrastructure for the cloud. Period. We will put our technology up against anybody’s, and we’ll go feature for feature, spec for spec.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:42 
8:45
Donatelli detailing HP CloudSystem — an integrated stack of hardware, HP and partner software, and connected with HP services. “To really be successful in the cloud, you need it all — the infrastructure, the software and the services.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:45 
8:49
Donatelli says HP’s cloud play covers enterprise clouds, service provider and independent clouds like those built by major social media players.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:49 
8:50
Announcing new CloudSystem Partner Program at APC.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:50 
8:50
Cloud Centers of Excellence, a new Cloud Center of Excellence segment under PartnerOne, and cloud services to help partners get up and running.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:50 
8:53

Donatelli: “We’ve seen a sea change in the industry” since introducing Converged Infrastructure 18 months ago. 
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:53 
8:58

Last year, LeftHand grew 200 per cent — this year, still growing 100 per cent over that, Donatelli says.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:58 
8:59
With acquisitions, HP Networking grew 183 per cent last year — 30 per cent growth in the core of routing and switching.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 8:59 
9:00

Donatelli: The 3Com deal was about changing the game in networking, “and we believe we’re doing it.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:00 
9:00
Says the HP networking strategy is to match feature for feature while coming in 30-40 per cent less expensive and paying partners more at the same time.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:00 
9:03

Donatelli moves on to chatting about Oracle’s decision to drop support for Itanium — slams Oracle for announcing it in the middle of the night with no forewarning. 
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:03 
9:04
Donatelli suggests that with HP at number 2 in the Unix market at 26 per cent, surpassing Oracle/Sun for second place, and mentions that Sun hardware revenues missed expectations.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:04 
9:05
“Don’t think of this as Oracle/HP, think of the impact on customers.” Donatelli calls it “a shameless attempt to get customers to spend a lot of money to switch to a new platform that offers no benefit.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:05 
9:06
Donatelli urges partners to get their customers to rally to get Oracle to change its decision to deep-six Itanium support.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:06 
9:09
And just in case HP partners aren’t tired of Vegas, Donatelli urges partners to come to HP Discover here in June. Bonus: Concert from Paul McCartney.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:09 
9:10
Up next, Bill Veghte, EVP of HP software and solutions, who kicks things off by thanking Donatelli for his help on the hardware side since he joined HP ten months ago.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:10 
9:11
Veghte: Over the last four years, channel driving 26 per cent CAGR, responsible 60 per cent of HP license revenues. But says that’s too small. “I was born and raised in the channel,” Veghte said of his roots at Microsoft.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:11 
9:12
Only 12 per cent of HP partners at current have sold a single HP software license, Veghte says.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:12 
9:13

Sooooo… I believe Veghte is suggesting that HP hardware is peanut butter, HP software is jelly, and partners are the Wonderbread that make it all come together.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:13 
9:15
Software can be a very lucrative business when services are added on, Veghte says, suggesting that $1 of software licenses drives $8 in services… and says the debate as that that ratio is too conservative.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:15 
9:17
HP has a strong portfolio, he says, but can be stronger baed on partnerships — first place in app lifecycle management, enterprise security management and distributed systems management.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:17 
9:19
“What we do at our core, and what we are pursuing, is a set of capabilities that simplify, automate and secureIT for business,” and there’s a great opportunity for partners to add value to that vision, Veghte says.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:19 
9:27

Veghte: SLAs around security and availability are the number one reason customers aren’t moving faster towards cloud.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:27 
9:32
Veghte detailing partner program elements around the software business, inlcuding a 10 per cent discount on new business opportunities that partners bring in.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:32 
9:32
Aligning rebates for partners, and announcing 2 per cent rebates for Converged Infrastructure pElite parnters on HP Business Services Management and Business Service Automation.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:32 
9:34
Up next, Gary Budzinski, SVP and GM for HP Technology Services to wrap up the keynotes this morning.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:34 
9:38

On the services side, Budzinski says HP has recruited the top 25 partners from Cisco, IBM and Sun this year, and has doubled its sales force, going from 150:1 partner:rep ratio to 10:1.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:38 
9:39
Today, 37 co-branded services with partners, and looking to grow that number.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:39 
9:42

Budzinski: Next generation customer support experience combines partner and hP intellectual property, know-how – from a customer POV, goals are to “fix it before it breaks,” “offer personalized online suppot,” “have instant-on expert help,” and ovver “high touch for targeted customers.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:42 
9:43
Later this year, HP will have a “single portal” for customer support experience.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:43 
9:46
Budzinski’s outlining HP’s cloud services strategy, which runs the gamut from planning the move, designing and implementation, and then management and constant improvement.  “We have some very unique IP,” he said, and pledges that these services will be made ready for channel sales.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:46 
9:49
Budzinski calling on partners to help move customers towards proactive services.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:49 
9:49
New services channel program to launch later this year, will roll out over 12 months.
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:49 
9:49
“Let’s continue to grow through innovation and differentiation.”
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:49 
9:53

Stephen DiFranco is out to wrap up the festivities this morning, talking about mergers and acquisitions in the technology space.

But that just about wraps up for our coverage of this morning’s keynotes. Thank you for joining us and see you back here this afternoon. 
Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:53 
9:53