Slashdot Mirror
HP to Heavily Support and Invest in .Net
Dr.Stress writes: "CNet is reporting 'Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft plan to invest $50 million in a joint effort to sell corporate customers on the software giant's .Net Web services efforts....HP plans to devote 3,000 consultants from its HP Services unit to the effort and also train 5,000 people in its sales and support staff.' Microsoft will provide additional installation support, and the companies will jointly market .Net services. This was announced previously, but this article contains a few more details. Frankly, as an HP employee, I am alarmed at all this closeness with Microsoft lately (this, plus the media center PCs....what's next??)."
No wonder they got rid of Bruce Perens...
Look, I worked at HP during the early and mid 90's. Let me tell you, cozying up to Microsoft is nothing new. Investing in Microsoft has been the stealth initiative of MANY of the ladder-climbers at HP. During my stay at HP, Rick Beluzzo was the big Microsoft pusher (ask me if I'm surprised he ended up WORKING for Microsoft in the end).
HP's downward slide didn't start with Carly, nor did it start with the merger--it started a LONG time ago, when the upper eschelons were taken over by MBA-types who thought that, instead of HP innovating, it would be MUCH easier to cozy up to the dominant monopoly.
This sounds just like another brilliant move by Carly Fiorina, after shutting down entire HP divisions (lab instruments and calculators among others).
However, history teaches that too close an alliance with MS bear a bitter fruit (think IBM)
I wonder what *we* could do against these corporate greedy b*startds...
It seems like this is a part of HP's plan to 'do an IBM', i.e. become a provider of complete solutions (HW+SW+Consulting). They've got the HW and consulting, but still need a big SW platform to sell and promote.
As for scaryness, yes it is a threat to the freedom online. We have to hope that Liberty Alliance will succeed and that average Joe will become aware of the lack of integrity this type of solutions can result in.
Anyone want to place bets on how long before HP "decides that supporting Linux is just too costly" and bails on the platform entirely?
Wouldn't surprise me if part of this MS/HP deal was MSFT saying "before we'll consummate this, in a few months, you've got to get rid of that thorn in our side Perens. We can't have him out there publicly lambasting us, as an employee of your company, if we're going to do business with you."
If HP is coxying up with Microsoft like this, it explains why HP let go one of the most outspoken MS detractors.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
I feel really bad for Carly Fiorona. She may actually believe that she is digging a foundation for her company. . .
Why feel sorry for an intellegent (and highly compensated) person who should know better ? Why not feel sorry instead for the misguided Compaq/HP foot soldiers and shareholders who are going to be screwed over by her bunglings ?
Lately? Heh. H-P got in bed with Microsoft long ago, at one point all but abandoning their Unix efforts and customers. I've always preferred Sun over H-P anyway, but felt that H-P would be waiting in the wings should I ever become sufficiently dissatisfied with Sun that I felt a change was necessary. But H-P's getting in bed with M$ originally, and their increasing support of All Things M$ since, completely removed them from consideration for me. Now my backup plan is some flavour of Linux on (probably) Dell hardware, should it ever become necessary.
Quite bluntly: I don't trust H-P to maintain any kind of commitment to anything not M$-centric.
Such a shame, what's happened to H-P :(. Once known for some of the best,
most rock-solid scientific measurement and test equipment that could be
had, and arguably the best calculators on the market. Now look what they've
become: little more than Yet Another M$-Windoze-Me-Too PeeCee company.
Three or four years ago, I had people from HP calling me asking me when I would be moving my systems from HP-UX to NT. When I laughed and told them that we were moving from MS platforms to Unix (tm) and unix-like systems, the people on the other end acted amazed that anyone would still be moving stuff to Unix (tm).
Doesn't really suprise me that after the Compaq merger, they are even more in bed with MS. After all wasn't it Compaq that basically killed the Alpha?
I have no sig, does anyone have one to spare?
Folks, calm down about this.
HP also signed a deal like this with BEA and people didn't go ballistic. HP signs many deals and they want to be big in services and this and the BEA deal is how you get big in services.
You should be careful about reading corporate press releases, they rarely are in context.
this is not a sig
This suggests that web services ==
Deceitful strategy, first they try to sell web services because of said platform independance, then the next step is to suggest that you need