Hewlett Packard on Tuesday went live with a number of new products for the SMB segment, including two new switches tied to its overall converged infrastructure strategy.
The new switches are its HPV1810-48G, a 48-port update to HP's smart managed switching line, and also the HP V1410 switch series, which are unmanaged Fast Ethernet switches.
Both are intended as plug-and-play, "out of the box" switch solutions for small business, said Gerhard Abeska, manager, solutions marketing for HP Networking. They also continue a push by HP to market products based on the IEEE Ethernet Efficient Standard (also known as IEEE 802.3az), which HP had a hand in developing, and which automatically adjusts energy usage by networked devices based on their actual traffic.
The V181048G switch is available in the U.S. immediately, listed at $959, while the HP V1410 Series switches start at $59.
Abeska said the 48-port version of the V1810 line helped HP close a gap in its portfolio.
"It's based on customer demand," he said. "Customers said of the [line], ''This is what we want but we want to have scaleability,' because they have small, but growing businesses and they don't want to run out of ports."
HP is coupling the HP Networking releases -- plus a number of additions in its server and storage lines Tuesday -- with a new financing program from HP Financial Services, the company's leasing and life cycle asset management arm. Specifically, HP will offer a zero-percent, 12-month lease with $1 purchase option on HP equipment priced between $1,500 and $250,000, or a zero-percent, 36-month lease with fair market value purchase option. The program is open to customers in the U.S. and Canada.
In addition, HP has also announced 40 new training centers for HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE), a training service in which HP has invested more than $20 million over the past four years. HP LIFE focuses on SMB entrepreneurs who want training around their use of HP solutions, such as entry-level ProLiant servers and HP Networking switches. Membership in HP LIFE is invitation-only.
HP estimates the worldwide addressable market for SMB customers at $234 billion, the company stated.
