HP Launches Suite To Automate Data Center OperationsHP Launches Suite To Automate Data Center Operations

Hewlett-Packard has launched HP Automated Operations 1.0, a software suite focused on enterprise services and meant to reduce ad hoc, manual operations in the data center.

The suite was introduced on Monday and it integrates assets from HP Open View systems and network management software, its Peregrine acquisition in 2005, its Mercury acquisition completed in a year ago, and its Opsware acquisition in September.

"We have been aggressively expanding our software portfolio in the last two years to broaden and deepen our capabilities," said Tom Hogan, senior VP, software, in a statement. Hogan is the former CEO of Vignette, maker of the content management system used by Web sites with rapid content turnover. He is a 25-year software business veteran hired by HP in January 2006 to head its expanding software initiative.

From its acquisition of Opsware, HP has assembled key data center automation technology for the Business Service Automation part of Automated Operations 1.0. It can automate the starting and stopping of physical and virtual servers and the servers' provisioning of network resources, storage, and applications.

Through HP's existing Operations Orchestation software, Business Service Automation can integrate business processes across systems and allow customers to create automated process workflows. Business Service Automation also records all configuration updates or other changes to the infrastructure for future reference.

The IT Service Management part of Automated Operations 1.0 consists of upgrades to two existing software products that monitor and measure IT services. HP Service Manager 7.0 manages business services from a user perspective. Service problems can be detected and troubleshot with the assistance of an integrated HP Universal Change Management Database, which contains original configuration information on servers and applications.

Also part of IT Service Management, HP's existing Decision Center 2.0 has been upgraded to apply metrics and analytics to existing business processes. The upgrade is intended to improve business processes and guard against negative business impact from faltering or failed services, Hogan said.

The announcement was made on the eve of HP's user software event in Barcelona, HP Software Universe 2007, which starts on Tuesday and runs through Friday.