Microsoft and HP Renew Pact

Published: January 10, 2007

by Alex Woodie

Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft will spend at least $300 million over the next three years as part of a renewed effort to serve their joint business customers, the companies announced last month.

The money will go toward developing solutions, testing, validation, deployment, and joint sales and marketing efforts. HP and Microsoft plan to focus their efforts on five business areas, including messaging and unified communications; collaboration and content management; business intelligence; business process integration; and core infrastructure.

The upside is huge, according to the companies. In 2007 alone, the market opportunity for business intelligence, collaboration, content management, and infrastructure software totaled $49 billion. The number grows to more than $100 billion when all five areas are factored into the equation, according to the IDC.

HP says it will create a new Microsoft Solutions Practice, where more than 22,000 employees will work on designing and launching of Microsoft-specific offerings. By the end of the three-year term, at least 30,000 HP employees will be focused on Microsoft offerings.

The money will also be used to establish a joint program where Microsoft will provide HP employees with technical and sales training. HP expects this program, called the "Solutions for a People-Ready Business Training Program," to result in the training of at least 3,000 consultants at HP.

One customer of HP's Windows consulting, The Weather Channel's executive vice president and chief information officer, Brian Shield, said he was pleased with HP's Windows offerings. "Everything was exceptionally well-aligned as we implemented our HP and Microsoft Solutions for the People-Ready Business," he says, adding that it was "like 'the perfect storm.'"

Unfortunately, it's still too early to tell if People Ready will spawn 100-foot IT waves, or just be a ripple in the pond of the IT jungle.

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