According to Gartner research, by 2016, at least 50 percent of business email users will rely primarily on a tablet or mobile client. HP has announced new offerings to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) prepare their technology infrastructure for an increasingly mobile workforce with secure, continuous access to data and applications. These solutions, as well as new financing and training programs, are part HP’s strategy to support SMBs working to adopt virtualization and mobile technology.
According to Gartner research, by 2016, at least 50 percent of business email users will rely primarily on a tablet or mobile client. HP has announced new offerings to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) prepare their technology infrastructure for an increasingly mobile workforce with secure, continuous access to data and applications. These solutions, as well as new financing and training programs, are part HP’s strategy to support SMBs working to adopt virtualization and mobile technology.
New and Updated SMB Technologies
HP is offering several new networking solutions based on its FlexNetwork architecture, including the 1910 8G Switch Series, a PoE energy-saving solution that enhances network access for rich-media applications such as voice and video. It allows organizations to deploy a switch with built-in intelligence to handle voice and video applications on thin clients, laptops, tablets and smartphones used in conference rooms and hospitality environments. The switch comes with a lifetime warranty that includes free software upgrades and technical support for customers migrating to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), and starts at $229.
The expanded HP Multi-Service Router (MSR) Series is designed to reduce network complexity by integrating mission-critical network services such as security and wired and wireless networking features into one device. 802.11n wireless local area network (WLAN) and 3G wide area network (WAN) modules are now integrated into the HP MSR, enabling customers to access WLAN or WAN with one device. The MSR Series starts at $499.
Other new and updated SMB technologies include:
- HP Client Virtualization SMB reference architectures with HP ProLiant Generation 8 servers and client virtualization software from Citrix, Microsoft or VMware that protects company data by storing user profiles and data on a centralized server. This enables SMBs to provide secure access to applications from thin clients, laptops, tablets and smart phones while protecting business data even if the device is lost.
- HP Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) with Microsoft Lync, an integrated unified communications and collaboration (UCC) hardware and software solution that provides secure video conferencing, shared information on workstations, and collaboration features. The UCC solution includes Microsoft Lync software, HP VoIP phones, HP networking, HP ProLiant Gen8 servers and storage.
HP’s Updated Services for SMB
- HP Client Virtualization, Analysis and Modeling, is a packaged service that analyzes the existing IT environment to simplify and speed deployment of virtualization for medium-sized organizations and help them embrace mobile technology.
- HP Transformation Experience Workshop for Mobility is a service that aligns business and IT stakeholders to ensure employees have access to data while upholding security requirements.
- HP Business Protection Solutions offers preconfigured reference architectures based on HP Converged Infrastructure and best practices in data protection, network security and disaster recovery. These solutions guide SMBs in the design of a risk mitigation program to ensure continued accessibility to company data from mobile devices.
- HP’s “Even Better than Zero” financing program that allows companies to lease HP equipment at a less-than-zero implicit lease rate while offering a fair-market-value purchase option.
- HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE) e-Learning, which offers free information and courses in 20 languages to help SMBs establish or grow their businesses.
