HP, Microsoft debut four new business appliances

From CNET News.com: Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft tonight are taking the covers off four pieces of HP-made hardware that will ship with software, services, and support from both companies as part of their Frontline partnership.

The goal, the companies say, is to reduce the amount of time it takes to deploy new appliances by bundling together pre-configured hardware and software. The hardware has also been designed to cover both small-medium businesses (SMBs) as well as enterprise-size companies.

The four configurations HP and Microsoft are launching to meet that goal are: the HP Business Decision Appliance, the HP Enterprise Data Warehouse Appliance, the HP E5000 Messaging System, and the HP Business Data Warehouse Appliance.

Two of those offerings that will be available immediately are the HP Business Decision Appliance, and the HP Enterprise Data Warehouse Appliance--the latter of which was actually launched in November but now joins the three new ones as part of a singular business platform. HP's E5000 Messaging System and Business Data Warehouse Appliance will be available in March and June respectively.

Last year, Microsoft entered into a three-year, $250 million agreement with HP to partner up on hardware and software combinations for business. This covers joint research and development, joint services, as well as joint sales and marketing. This lineup represents the first major offering to come out of that particular investment.

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