“c-Class blade servers from HP offer the customer 40 percent savings in power and hence a lower TCO along with better efficiency”

Given the availability new technologies today, customers are looking at
ways to maximize the efficiency of their datacenters. Technologies like
virtualization and blade servers help them to achieve this, feels Tony Parkinson
of HP who says that India is an important market for HPs c-Class blades

Datacenters are now on an evolving path. What are the prominent changes
that have happened with datacenters over the years?

The concept of a datacenter has undergone a sea change since the last 10 to 15
years. Unlike the yesteryears, today's datacenters have more number of servers
which means that they have grown in complexity. This growing complexity of
data­centers has resulted in a sharp increase in power consumption as well.
Against the backdrop of growing power costs and the unavailability of clean
power, consumers are looking at technologies like blade servers to help them
cope with changing demands. In line with the increased cost of power, a sharp
increase in real estate costs has resulted in a drastic reduction in the size of
today's datacenters. Newer techno­logies like virtualization have made it
possible to design datacenters, which are far more efficient than their
predecessors.

Tony Parkinson VP and GM-Industry Standard Servers, Asia Pacific, HP

Given the growing con­cerns in datacenter manage­ment as well as
operation, what are the awareness levels in organiza­tions? How does HP help
its customers to keep pace with rising demands?

Today's customers are a lot more aware of the need for efficient datacenters
as well as the latest technologies that are available to help them improve the
working efficiency. In fact customers clearly understand that utilizing
technologies like the blades provide a huge cost as well as power savings. While
custo­mers and our partners are open to these changes, the market itself is
moving towards the blade technology, so the acceptance levels have dramatically
increased.

At HP, we help our customers to redesign their datacenters and articulate to
them the benefits of doing so. We also endeavor to clarify a lot of
misconceptions as regards datacenter design, which pertain to the areas of
cooling, power consumption and com­paction. By bringing out new products based
on blade servers as well as technologies like virtualization, we provide our
customers the best of solutions so that they can maximize their benefit by
working with them.

Talking of providing new technologies, what are the biggest advantages HP
latest c-Class blades give to the customer?

The newest range of servers that we have introduced is the c-Class blade server.
This new blade server architecture is designed to improve server density and
management features while cutting down on operational and power costs. Overall,
the c-Class blades can save up to 40 percent more power than rack-mounted
servers. Apart from that they also occupy less space and take little time for
installation. The new blade servers including the BL480c offer features found in
the rack-mount DL380 and the BL460c. The systems also come with a host of
support services, and HP will offer financing packages designed to help
customers migrate to the new design.

Given that the new series of blades are targeted at the enterprises, which
particular verticals are you looking at for the new product? Are the SMBs also
equally enthusiastic?

Given that blades offer increased work efficiency as well as lower TCO, many
organiza­tions at the enterprise level are looking to an increased adoption of
blades. While we cannot say at this stage that the rack mount servers will be
completely replaced by blades, we can surely say that blades are increasingly
becoming an integral part of datacenter architecture these days. The same rules
holds good for our new series of servers. Typical target verticals for us would
be BPO/ call centers, BFSI, telecom, government, mobility, multimedia and
manufacturing.

As far as the SMB sector is concerned, many mid—sized organizations looking
at server and storage consolidation would look at the blade option too. The
c-Class blades appeal to both the enterprises as well as the medium sized
organizations, albeit diffe­rently, based on individual needs. Basically both
would look at costs of acquisition, running and maintenance, all of which are
very low in the case of c-Class.

How have you equipped your partners in India to work with the c-Class
servers? What would your go- to-market strategy in India be for this product?

HPs elite partners work with blades, the c- Class included. We already have
set-up proof-of-concept centers across India and our partners at the centers are
trained to handle a variety of customer queries and also ensure that customers
are given the right kind of solutions and services. As far as go-to-market goes,
we are looking to work in close association with our partners to help us reach
out effectively across the country. We would also look at signing up new
partners in the B and C class cities if need be. Customer referrals would help
us with new sign ups as well as penetration into new market segments here in
India.

Since blades are growing to be a preferred option, what kind of market
opportunity do you see for blades in the future? Your comments on the Indian
market as well.

As far as the adoption to blades goes, India and China are two very rapidly
growing markets for us. Low costs of acquisition and huge savings in labor costs
make markets like India and China very important for us. In fact India is one of
the fastest growing markets for blades globally. Within India too we see greater
adoption to blades especially in the metros where real estate costs are
increasing by the minute. While a lot more education is still required as
regards the benefits of blade technology, the increases in adoption to blades in
recent times means that we are here for good business in the future.

As far as the future goes, we see a continued transition from rack mount
servers to blades. While we would love to see rack mount completely cannibalized
by blades, we are realistic enough to believe that technologies like
virtualization accompanied by benefits like less power consumption would grow
the market for c-Class blades and we are sure of a greater adoption to the same
at the user level.

Subbalakshmi BM