I’m currently at the HP Enterprise Seize the Data roadshow in Singapore where the recently split company is showing off its range of data analytics tools.
Like companies such as IBM and Google, HPE are looking to make money out of data feeds and analytics with a key part being a platform for developers to create applications.
In launching their Haven OnDemand service, HPE are entering a crowded field with IBM, Salesforce, AWS and Splunk – among others – offering similar products. What compelling difference HPE will add to the field will be something I’ll be asking the company’s executive later.
One of the other services, HP Vertica, looks running data analytics against structured and ‘semi-structured’ sources. Again this is a field where other companies are well established and have an advantage in being able to examine unstructured data.
The overwhelming question though is how big, and lucrative, the market is for these data products. It’s not clear exactly how all of these companies are going to monetize these services and, should they be able to, their profitability.
As a company finding its feet less than a year after being split in two with the added problem of seeing its core server hardware business being eroded, HP Enterprise is realigning its business around data analytics and cloud services.
The challenge for the company is differentiating itself and providing competitive products in these markets, this will be a tough challenge.