Microsoft, HP Enterprise reveal first Azure tie-up in new partnership

Microsoft and the newly formed HP Enterprise will provide the Azure hybrid cloud platform on the ProLiant computing infrastructure, the two companies announced overnight. 

The HPE Hyper-Converged 250 for Microsoft solution provides up to four individual x86 processor architecture servers in a single, two-unit (2U) chassis for on-premises cloud deployment. 

Microsoft and HPE jointly engineered the Hyper-Converged 250 system, which provides a full Azure experience and management capabilities in customer data centres.  

The system will run Microsoft Windows Server and applications such as SharePoint, SQL Server and Exchange, along with HP software such as LoadRunner and Quality Centre, which are available today from the Azure Marketplace. 

HP promises big data applications such as Vertica and Autonomy will be available for the platform from early 2016. 

HPE also intends to create a new global Azure services centre of excellence to support customers going down the hybrid cloud route. Some 5000 Azure cloud architects will be trained and certified through HPE's global services practice as part of the support effort. 

The announcement comes after HPE competitor Dell introduced a similar "Azure in a box" system in October. 

Like the Dell hybrid solution, HPE's Hyper-Converged 250 system was developed to the Microsoft cloud platform system standard (MCPSS).  

Microsoft and its partners hope that enterprises will adopt hybrid solutions based on the MCPSS, which provides central oversight and management capabilities, to deploy IT and computing services, rather than going into public cloud offerings from competitors Amazon Web Services and Google. 

Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it would designate Microsoft Azure as a "preferred" public cloud partner last week, as it prepares to kill off its own public cloud offering