HP merges 3Com; ProCurve operations; Will eat own networking dog food
Hewlett-Packard said Monday it will merge the operations of the recently acquired 3Com with its ProCurve networking line-up under the umbrella of HP Networking. HP also added that it would power its latest data center entirely with gear from its networking unit.
With the move, HP is looking to stake out key networking ground in a marketplace dominated by Cisco Systems and No. 2 player Juniper Networks. With the 3Com portfolio in tow, HP is rolling out a line-up of edge-to-core networking gear. HP closed the 3Com acquisition April 12.
The networking unit will be lumped into the Enterprise Servers and Storage (ESS) unit. Marius Haas, general manager of the networking group, will report to David Donatelli, general manager for the ESS division. For those keeping score at home, you can toss a "N" for networking on the ESS acronym to get ESSN.
HP's goal is to combine servers, storage and networking to create pools of computing resources. This brand of data center architecture is dubbed Converged Infrastructure by HP. To land more business for its networking unit and break into accounts 3Com couldn't crack, HP is promising:
- Integrated wired and wireless environments;
- A set of common management tools to configure, deploy and monitor the network;
- Security integration with TippingPoint, arguably the gem of 3Com's businesses;
- Open standards and multivendor interoperability.
The entire lineup of networking products are listed on a fact sheet.
In addition, HP said it will continue to operate 3Com's H3C venture, which provides networking gear in China. HP said it will also add a 2,400 person research and development team in China to focus on networking infrastructure.