HPE: We are seeing 'birth of a whole new world' of technology

HPE CEO Meg Whitman said HPE wants to be leader in hybrid IT in the 'new world' of technology

The technology industry is witnessing the start of a new world led by technology, according to HPE CEO Meg Whitman, speaking at HPE Discover 2016 in London today.

Whitman (pictured) said that thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), we are now in a world where "everything computes". She added that HPE's vision is to be the leader in this hybrid IT market.

"We are living through the birth of a whole new world, where everything computes," she said. "From cars to stadiums, train tracks to windmills and solar panels, to much, much more. We are seeing a whole new world come into being, and it will change everything.

"Gartner predicts that the number of intercommunicated devices will more than triple from 6.4 billion this year to nearly 21 billion in 2020. By 2021 there will be one billion new intercommunicated devices sold every hour. Harnessing this new world is what HPE is all about. Our vision is to be the leader of hybrid IT, built on secure next-generation software-defined infrastructure that will run datacentres today and bridge to multi-cloud platforms tomorrow."

HPE has been separate from HP Inc for just over a year, and in September it announced a spin-merger of its non-core software assets with Micro Focus, in a deal it values at around $8.8bn (£7bn).

But Whitman made it clear at the event today that the merger does not mean HPE is "getting out of software".

"Earlier this year we made the decision to spin off and merge our non-core software assets with Micro Focus. We are not getting out of the software business. In fact, we are doubling down on software and infrastructure that is critical for businesses systems," she said.