HP Ready for Windows Server 2008

Published: December 12, 2007

by Alex Woodie

Hewlett-Packard last week started beating the drum for the launch of Windows Server 2008 next February when it announced that a wide swath of its hardware and software is "Microsoft-ready." As one of Microsoft's biggest partners and customers--if not the biggest--the IT giant would love to get an early boost promoting Windows Server 2008 sales and maintain its server sales in the double-digit realm. Whether or not that will pan out remains to be seen.

According to HP, its Integrity, ProLiant, and BladeSystem servers, its StorageWorks SAN and NAS devices, and its middleware and systems administration software are already ready for Windows Server 2008, which has been in development for about six years but won't be officially launched until February 27. Microsoft took one step closer to finalizing Windows Server 2008 with the delivery of Release Candidate 1 (RC1) last week (see " Windows Server 2008 RC1 Debuts with Group Policy Enhancements").

HP happily pointed out that its recently introduced Business Service Automation suite, which is based on its acquisistion this summer of Opsware, already sports Windows Server 2008 support. This collection of software helps automate the process of provisioning, patching, and migrating Windows environments.

Besides its hardware and software, HP is also prepping its HP Services organization to be ready for Windows Server 2008. This group will provide planning, design, implementation, and support services for Windows Server 2008 customers as part of its "HP & Microsoft Solutions for the People-Ready Business" program.

HP, which possesses the "Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions," will also provide an array of training services for Windows Server 2008 topics, including classroom training, live online training, and self-paced e-learning software.

HP points out that Microsoft is an HP shop and uses HP computers to create and test new versions of the Windows Server operating system, and to create reference implementations, so it should know Windows Server 2008 as well as anybody.

For more information and Windows Server 2008 white papers, visit www.hp.com/go/ws2008.

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