Wednesday, June 23, 2010

HP's Anton Knolmar Recaps Highlights of Software Universe Conference, Looks to Future

Transcript of a BriefingsDirect podcast with HP's Anton Knolmar on HP announcements and customer reaction from Software Universe conference in Washington, DC.

Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes/iPod and Podcast.com. Download the transcript. Sponsor: HP.

Dana Gardner: Hello, and welcome to a special BriefingsDirect podcast series, coming to you from the HP Software Universe 2010 Conference in Washington D.C. We're here the week of June 14, 2010, to explore some major enterprise software and solutions trends and innovations making news across HP’s ecosystem of customers, partners, and developers.

I'm Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions and I'll be your host throughout this series of HP sponsored Software Universe Live discussions.

We're here again with Anton Knolmar, Vice President of Marketing for HP Software & Solutions. Welcome back. How is the show going for you, Anton?

Anton Knolmar: Thank you, Dana. It’s going very well. I'm really excited about having so many customers here. We've been sold out, which is a good sign. Customers are also really interested about sharing their solutions and sharing their information with us. At the end of the day, where we are totally committed is providing value to those customers.

We kicked it off the first day on the main stage, with our new Executive Vice President, Bill Veghte, talking about IT as an inflection point and how, with our solution portfolio, can help our customers provide even greater value for their organizations. That was a good lead-in.

I was even more excited, when we had customers on stage. Delta Air Lines’ Theresa Wise did a fantastic job explaining the challenges they were facing with integrating and acquiring Northwest Airlines, and getting those two companies together using our portfolio.

We got compliments and feedback about Dara Torres and what she was showing on stage here, on how you can compete, independent of what age, if you try to give your best in your personal, private, and business life. This was a good learning experience for all of our customers.

Then, we moved to the next event, our blockbuster product announcement, BSM 9.0, rolling this one out across the world, with different solutions in a single pane of glass, with the automation, and simplification.

It’s not "one solution fits all," and that’s what we are trying to do with our customers as well -- a really customized solution approach.



The feedback we received from our customers is that this is exactly what they've been looking for. And, they are even looking forward to more simplification. The simpler we can make it for them in their complex life, in their complex environment, whatever comes in from cloud, from virtualization, from new technologies, the better they all feel and the better we can serve them.

Gardner: We heard, of course, about the inflection point that you and Bill Veghte referred to -- lots more virtualization, cloud permutations, different types of use, thinking about sourcing, and the the mobility factor. When these come together, it seems to be almost a black hole for some folks. They're a little bit worried about how to deal with it, but they know that they can’t avoid it.

What have you been hearing from the participants in some of the panels and the executive tracks? How are people approaching some of these inflection points?

Knolmar: It wasn't just one customer who had one story to tell. We had to set aside an executive track, where we had a different levels of customers, talking about the problems and how they're facing problems. It’s not "one solution fits all," and that’s what we are trying to do with our customers as well -- a really customized solution approach.

What they're telling us in terms of this broad range of delivery is that it's a huge opportunity for everyone in the cloud. Also, everyone is saying, "We hate the word cloud," but that’s the word everyone uses. The delivery models that are out there at the moment, the new technology, the mobility factor, the growth of the smartphones, the mobile devices, is a big thing, and will be more in the future.

Being future-ready

Our customers are still challenged with their current environment, with their legacy environment. They say, "We still have mainframes to manage and all this new technology is coming in here." What they're trying to do is, and what we are trying to equip them with the current portfolio that we have, is to manage, monitor, and make the best out of the current investments, but also with our solutions portfolio, to be future ready.

So whatever new technology comes out, they're equipped and they can adopt this immediately in their current environment. They should be really happy with what we announced this week to be future ready for their future investments, as well whatever comes up.

Gardner: And, we're here in Washington D.C. with a very large public-sector crowd, as you pointed out earlier, a record-breaking attendance for you. Is there anything in particular from the public sector that you have found here as a takeaway?

Knolmar: A public sector track naturally combines nicely with being in Washington, and I hope we can continue this, even moving a little bit forward for next year. The public sector has similar problems, not too much different from what you hear from our other customers. Naturally there's more governmental, federal interest, in terms of how the budget process works in these areas.

Everyone wants to get the latest technologies deployed and get the best out of them, maximize, be cost efficient, and be effective, as well as serve their business and their lines of business.



But, from the overall topics and overall themes, everyone wants to get the latest technologies deployed and get the best out of them, maximize, be cost-efficient, and be effective, as well as serve their business and their lines of business. We hear similar stories from the public sector customers.

Gardner: As we wrap up Software Universe 2010, where are we going next? Are there some initiatives we should look forward to? It seems that folks are energized. Where can we lead them next in terms of anticipating some new solutions to their problems?

Knolmar: As you said, this was an exciting moment for us, getting our blockbuster out. A new blockbuster is coming, so stay tuned for that. That happens in September. We will also take Software Universe on the road. The next event is happening in Israel in a few weeks. We have a big crowd coming in, 1,500 customers, which is a huge gathering for Israelis.

The other piece is that we have HP TechForum, which is our sister conference, where we get the enterprise business, going on in Las Vegas this week. We're definitely excited. Stay tuned here. We're in Europe, in Barcelona, at the end of November, with our next Software Universe event. Hopefully, we can transmit and tell a bit more stories with you, Dana, from Software Universe, Barcelona. Thank you.

Gardner: Very good. We've been discussing the excitement at Software Universe in Washington and looking forward to some additional rollouts, news, and solutions from the software community at HP.

We've been joined by Anton Knolmar, Vice President of Marketing at HP Software & Solutions. Thanks again for joining.

Knolmar: Thank you.

Gardner: And thanks to our audience for joining this special BriefingsDirect podcast, coming to you from the HP Software Universe 2010 Conference in Washington D.C. Look for other podcasts from this HP event on the hp.com website, as well as via the BriefingsDirect Network.

I'm Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions, your host for this series of Software Universe Live discussions. Thanks again for listening, and come back next time.

Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes/iPod and Podcast.com. Download the transcript. Sponsor: HP.

Transcript of a BriefingsDirect podcast with HP's Anton Knolmar on HP announcements and customer reaction from Software Universe conference in Washington, DC. Copyright Interarbor Solutions, LLC, 2005-2010. All rights reserved.

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