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Innovation

HP smuggles networking gear into enterprises via service provider financing deal

HP is serving up pay-per-use managed networking technologies to service providers to encourage them to tap HP tech for their clouds.
Written by Jack Clark, Contributor

HP has followed in the footsteps of IBM with a financing initiative designed to get service providers to use its networking technologies.

The HP FlexNetwork Utility Advantage Program was announced on Wednesday and sees the IT giant try to tempt service providers into using its gear and software via a pay-per-use financing programme.

Switzerland's incumbent telco Swisscom has already signed up to the programme.

"Our customers want to focus on running their business rather than operating networks for employee access to applications like voice and videoconferencing," Oliver Spring, head of product line management for Swisscom, said in an HP statement.
"With HP's FlexNetwork Utility Advantage Program, we can close the gap in our managed service offerings to deliver a networking infrastructure that allows our customers to move beyond operations."

The programme sees HP equip service providers with HP software and hardware based around the company's HP FlexNetwork architecture, which they can then use to offer managed services to customers.

The customer only pays the service provider for what they use. The service provider rents the hardware and software from HP on a month-to-month basis, and so they pay no upfront costs. 

The move suggests that HP believes that service providers are going to look at providing their own cloud services to businesses in a bid to maintain competitiveness against Amazon.

IBM launched a similar financing scheme in September in which it offered service providers financing and support for using IBM gear.

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