SMB IT | Curtis Franklin » HP Gets Serious About SMB with SmartOffice Update

October 11, 2005 | Comments: (0)

HP Gets Serious About SMB with SmartOffice Update

TAGS: SMB business

It's a big day for HP's relationship with SMB customers. The company called me last week to discuss a whole passle of announcements it's making today to flesh out its SmartOffice line of SMB prods and servs.

On the product side, there's Storage Works Data Protector Express. This is a "full-featured" data backup/disaster recovery app built with SMBs in mind. That means (supposedly as I haven't actually tested this) an easy-to-use interface for the semi-geek customer. Also the ability to back-up to a variety of formats and a fairly low price tag of $779. Given all the low-end competition in this space, I'm going to need to see it work before I pass final judgement on the price tag.

I asked if Data Protector Express would take the place of Yosemite's Tapeware XE, which comes bundled on HP's lower-end (SMB-oriented) tape hardware now, like the USB-based DAT 40 drive I reviewed here a few weeks ago. Strangely, this didn't seem to have occured to the product reps I was talking to, but they promised to look into it. Guess we'll see.

Slightly higher end is the MSA 1510i Smart Array network storage enclosure. Puppy starts at about eight grand, however it's not only easy to use but flexible as all get out. Think support for SCSI as well as SATA disks, ability to grab disks out of ProLiant servers and pop them directly into a 1510i for instant data recovery and (again, supposedly) an easy-to-use Web-based management interface.

On the service side, you'll find new tools on HP's site today, mostly based around an expanded relationship with Cisco. There's a Solutions Designer tool, for one. Answer a few questions about your existing network and what you're trying to do, and Solutions Designer should be able to spit back a relevant answer--based on HP and Cisco products, of course. Smacks a lot of similar tools on Cisco's site, but it's supposed to be more intelligent than the configuration-style tools Cisco's employed in the past. I'd be more specific, but no one was allowed access to any of these services until today, so I'm still working on the real-world experience part.

You'll also find a Smart Chat capability for SMB customers looking to talk about specific SMB-oriented HP and Cisco products. This is probably useful if you're interested in those particular products, but I've got a funny feeling those looking for more individual solutions are going to be a little frustrated. Finally, the HP Locator tool is pretty much a closed find-me-a-reseller search tool aimed at resellers who are both HP and Cisco certified.

That may not blow up your skirt, but HP's SMB financial services news probably will. The company is promising new financing programs aimed specifically at SMBs, allowing for more flexible financing options and a deferred payment plan, too. Now that's attractive to SMBs!

There's significantly more stuff that I may write about later--but I want to play with these new online tools first. Anyone have any opinions based on first-person use, please let me know.

Posted by Oliver Rist on October 11, 2005 04:22 AM

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