HP Moves Oracle Apps To Cloud Via Its Matrix Converged Infrastructure

HP is leveraging its server, storage, software, and services capabilities to provide an infrastructure on which Oracle applications can be quickly deployed on private clouds.

Hewlett-Packard on Monday said it has engineered turnkey solutions that enable Oracle applications such as PeopleSoft Enterprise, Oracle E-Business Suite, and Oracle Fusion Middleware to be deployed on HP's Matrix converged infrastructure in a matter of hours.

HP's goal with the new solutions is to make sure the servers, storage, and software work well together, said Mike Crowsen, Oracle alliance vice president at HP.

"We want to provide a one-stop solution, making sure the solutions work really well," Crowsen said. "We want to leverage HP's technology as far as possible."

HP unveiled the new solutions at the Oracle OpenWorld Conference, held this week in San Francisco.

The new solutions are the latest indication from HP that it is planning to continue its 25-plus-year relationship with Oracle despite the recent rancor between the two IT giants in the wake of Oracle's hiring of former HP CEO Mark Hurd.

They were unveiled one day after Ann Livermore, executive vice president of HP's enterprise business, delivered a keynote at OpenWorld at which she highlighted the importance of the relationship between the two companies.

Both HP and Oracle have been talking about providing customers with the ability to pick-and-choose applications on a capacity-on-demand basis in a modular, services-oriented fashion, said Kevin Lyons, marketing director of enterprise storage, servers, and network alliance at HP.

"Oracle calls it Oracle Fusion," Lyons said. "HP has been doing the same with our converged infrastructure. HP really wants to make sure Oracle Fusion is ready for market. And with Matrix and our blade servers, HP can help them deliver on their vision."

HP's Matrix converged infrastructure, which ties server, storage, and networking resources into a single infrastructure, was designed from the beginning to be the core technology for building private clouds, and with HP's software and services can be the backbone for Oracle's services-oriented vision, Lyons said.

"Wrap it all together, and you have an Oracle cloud," he said.

HP is starting its new Oracle cloud infrastructure with Oracle's PeopleSoft application, based on its own experience with the software.

Next: Taking HP's Experience With Oracle To The Cloud

HP already has the world's largest implementation of PeopleSoft, and is currently adding a Matrix environment with HP services to go with it, Lyons said. The company will then package that PeopleSoft experience in Linux environments with Matrix and offer it to customers starting in October, he said.

The initial configurations will target the upper midmarket, and can be tweaked to meet customers' requirements, Lyons said. It will be available directly and through channel partners.

Oracle has worked with HP on the integration, he said. "We are Oracle's largest partner in its Linux validation program," he said. "But this is pretty much an HP project."

The only thing not included in the package is the PeopleSoft software itself, Crowsen said.

"We can resell the software," he said. "But we find that customers already have the software, or the licenses they need, on their shelf. But if the customers want to buy it from HP, they can do it."

Following the introduction of the PeopleSoft cloud infrastructure, HP will then offer a more general database and middleware stack for running custom or Java-based applications in Oracle's Fusion middleware offering, with such a capability expected to be available before the end of the year, Lyons said.

The company also plans to do the same with Oracle's E-business suite with Matrix architectures in HP-UX environments, he said.

"These will all be factory-integrated but flexible," he said. "Customers and partners will be able to tweak them within the Oracle software specifications."

Working with the new HP-Oracle offerings offers channel partners the ability to add value to HP's Matrix converged infrastructure platform to add their own services and help customers move to the cloud, Lyons said.

"Matrix and all the components are available through channel partners," he said. "This is a bundled solution partners can work with immediately, especially HP Solutions Elite partners who are also Oracle partners."