4 Ways HP Will Execute Its New Strategy: WebOS, Clouds and Big Data

Today HP CEO Leo Apotheker announced HP’s new strategy: cloud, connectivity and software. Mobility, consumerization of IT and big data will all play a role in this new strategy. In particular, HP’s WebOS and Vertica acquisitions will drive it forward.

Here’s a look at the specific plans Apotheker discussed.

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Unified Experience Across Devices

Rather than a “post-pc era” Apotheker is planning for a “not just PCs” era. According to CNET, Apotheker remains bullish on desktop PCs – he says HP ships two PCs a second. But he wants to provide users with a seamless experience across multiple devices, all connecting them to the same cloud services.

“Our vision is to provide seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world,” VentureBeat quotes Apotheker saying. “The idea of two separate lives, one professional and one consumer, is over. People have merged those roles in their daily lives.”

Apotheker confirmed that HP will ship PCs running both Windows and WebOS. According to Business Insider,  Apotheker said there will be a beta version of WebOS running on Windows in a browser by the end of this year, and WebOS will ship on Windows PCs in 2012 . We discussed the ramifications of HP running WebOS on top of Windows earlier. It’s a nice idea (I’m a fan of WebOS), but it might not end well for HP.

Apotheker also said that HP will eventually sell Windows tablets, according to Business Insider the company is waiting for the right version of Windows. Presumably these Windows tablets will also run WebOS, just like the desktop PCs.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service Ventures

Of course Apotheker doesn’t just want to provide devices for users to tap into cloud services run by other companies. As we’ve noted before, HP wants to sell tablets, PCs and other devices but also provide its own cloud services. That’s where the real money is.

According to Business Insider, HP will build and manage its own cloud-based infrastructure for enterprises. Apotheker says HP already works with seven of the 10 largest cloud providers, so it has the expertise in the infrastructure. Apotheker is emphasizing HP’s security chops as a key differentiator between it and other cloud providers.

In addition to a public cloud infrastructure, he also mentioned platform services.

An HP App Store

HP also wants to get into the app store business. Apotheker expanded on this idea during the Q&A session after the keynote. According to Business Insider, Apotheker says HP will offer an open marketplace for both enterprise and consumer applications. No word yet on when this will be available.

Big Data Appliance

HP acquired Vertica last month. Apotheker says Vertica will be a big part of its strategy moving forward, and it will offer Vertica as a service, as software and as an appliance. That means Vertica will go up against IBM Netezza (coverage) and Oracle Exadata.

Disclosure: HP is a ReadWriteWeb sponsor.

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