HP opens cloud floodgates for channel

Vendor wants resellers to get in on the cloud act as it cultivates a global network of services providers

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HP has turned its cloud business towards the channel with the launch of an open network of services it hopes will attract a "powerful ecosystem" of partners.

At its Discover event in Las Vegas this week, the vendor giant unveiled the HP Helion Network, a framework which will offer resellers the chance to provide services from a wide range of accredited services providers and HP technology partners. It is designed to expand upon the existing CloudAgile scheme, which currently houses 115 services firms worldwide.

HP claimed that it hopes the Helion Network will cement partnerships with an array of "independent software vendors, developers, system integrators and value-added resellers, to accelerate innovation and deliver open standards-based hybrid cloud services". VARs and other partners taking part will receive benefits including access to training, and sales and marketing materials, and "access to flexible payment structures that help align IT investment with revenue".

Customers, meanwhile, can enjoy a "hardware-agnostic" network that allows them to move workloads between on- and off-premise environments "with no vendor lock-in". The programme will also feature a range of tailored vertical and horizontal services which also provide "the ability to meet country-specific data regulations regarding data sovereignty, retention and protection".

HP chief technology officer Martin Fink said: "Global enterprises grapple with a daunting array of cloud products and services across locations, which creates challenges that include security, data sovereignty, interoperability and quality of service.

"The HP Helion Network leverages HP's expertise gained from running OpenStack technology at scale and our ability to unite service providers and technology partners. Together, we're building a federated ecosystem that enables organisations to deploy services on the right platform at the right time and at the right cost."

The vendor's Helion portfolio of OpenStack-based products – which was launched last month – was also bolstered by two new additions today. A preview version of the commercial edition of HP Helion OpenStack was unveiled in Vegas. It is priced at $1,400 (£834) per server, per annum, with discounts for longer-term and higher-volume use. A preview edition of the Helion Development Platform for developers to create and deploy their applications is also going live.