HP Discover 2013 live coverage: News, photos and analysis from Barcelona

Business Features09 Dec 2013 by Paul Cooper PaulMCCooperpaul@itproportal.com

HP Discover Barcelona has become one of the must-attend enterprise conferences of 2013, featuring hundreds of sessions covering the hottest topics in the IT industry today – big data, converged cloud, mobility, security, risk management and more.
With 10,000 attendees pouring into the Fira de Barcelona Conference Centre in Grand Via (the second largest conference centre in Europe), over 75 sponsors, 35 industry analysts and 500 sessions taking place over two-and-a-half days, this is definitely not one to miss.
As the hosts put it:
"HP Discover is your best opportunity in 2013 to learn how to put HP innovation to work for you. More than 7,000 IT executives, managers, architects, engineers, and solution experts from around the world will gather at HP Discover to explore technology developments, strategies, and best practices. Featuring hundreds of business and technical sessions, HP Discover will equip your organization to convert data into value, technology into solutions, and ideas into economic and social impact."
Be sure to check out the official agenda, as well as the full session and demo catalogue, available on the HP website.
To keep you up to date with the action, ITProPortal is bringing you live commentary, photos and analysis from Barcelona, as well as all the breaking news as it lands, so stick around.

10 December
18:35

Stay tuned for tomorrow, as we've been told that there are some exciting developments in everyone's favourite: the cloud!
18:33

We started the day with a bang, and we ended it with one - as a HP executive threw the new EliteBook onto the floor to demonstrate its toughness. We didn't actually get to see them turn it on afterwards, and it's not like HP can't afford to just break one... but it got everyone's attention nonetheless.
18:32

Ooh, shiny!
17:23

If this BIOS is attacked by malware, it repairs itself!
17:23

BREAKING: HP self-healing BIOS announced. "We believe that no other competitor can achieve this, as it's hard-wired into the hardware."
17:21

BREAKING: HP Business Desktop MIni released. All the power of a desktop in a processor that fits into the palm of your hand. Looks pretty impressive.
17:19

BREAKING: HP Spectre 13 Pro laptop also announced. 13.3in screen. Slim and powerful, apparently.
17:18

BREAKING: HP EliteBook Folio 1040 announced. 15mm thin, built to withstand extreme shock, and tested to military standards of toughness.
14:40

If you think the announcements are over, I have it on good authority that they are not! Apparently there are a whole slew of new products being announced tomorrow. You crazy, HP!
14:14

Not to mention our breakdown of the Earth Insights project. Could big data analytics save the world? HP seems to think so.
14:13

And don't forget to check out our interview with Tom Joyce, senior vice president of HP Converged Systems, where we talk to Tom about HP's advancements in converged systems, and what that could mean for enterprise and small businesses.
14:11

So what do the new Converged Systems and Converged Storage releases mean for business? Find out here.
14:10

Absolutely cracking keynote by Meg Whitman. Stick around for more updates as they come in.
14:09
14:06

If you remember nothing else from Discover, remember this: "We are here to be the best technology company ever. So challenge us. bring us your goals, bring us your unsolvable problems. Let's build a better enterprise together."
14:05

Whitman: "We know you're being drawing into disciplines that you're not familiar with. You're experiencing increasing pressure, too: time pressure, cost pressure, pressure to get things to work. But HP is there with you. Consider us as an asset in your organisation. We're happiest when you look like superman."
14:04

You ever think: "I can't wait for the dawning golden age of IT, but right now I just want my Wi-Fi to work"?
That's me right now.
14:03

John Herbert, CIO of 2oth Century Fox joins Whitman on the stage.
"What an incredible company," Whitman tells him. "What a legacy."
Something tells me we're not meant to confine that verdict to 20th Century Fox?
14:03

Weird and pointless montage of 20th Century Fox movies, from the Sound of Music to James Bond to Avatar. What are you claiming credit for, HP? Did they shoot Indiana Jones in the converged cloud?
14:02

This is the infrastructure of HP, which they think gives them the best vantage point to help you with yours. Look familiar to anyone?
14:00

Hinshaw: "Our IT team was so astonished when we brought out moonshot, the 95 per ent reduction in space that it required that they actually come to me and said, 'we think we can go down from 6 to 4 data centres.' And certainly, we will never build another data centre again. That's the power of Moonshot."
14:00

Now a talk from John Hinshaw is Executive Vice President of Technology & Operations at Hewlett-Packard.
13:59

Whitman: "Photonics uses photons in light instead of electrons in copper wire. We have a solid road map to get 6TB per second over photonic networks. In that architecture, you can transfer 4 days of digital video in 1 second."
13:58

"90 per cent of the energy used in computing is used moving data from the processor to storage and back again. We are quickly reaching the limits of what this architecture is capable of handling. We need a new architecture for the digital age."
13:56

Whitman: "We have the cloud that companies can rely on. no other company has the sinews, no toher company has the experience in hardware, software and services. We make it, we back it, we service it."
13:25

Whitman: "If the cloud were an independent country, it would be number 5 in the worldwide ranking of energy consumption. That's after, the US, Russia, China and India. Japan is number 6. To put it another way, the cloud uses five times the amount of energy as Spain. This is simply not sustainable. We have to make better use of the electricity we've got."

Crazy!
13:25

"You might not be used to the view from the bridge - but there is a storm coming. IT managers are being thrust into new areas of expertise, and new areas of technology that weren't part of the job description 10, 5, or even 2 years ago. But HP is here to help. You know this reality better than anyone else, because you live it every day."
13:20

Whitman: "IT is no longer just about keeping the computers running. It can make the difference between whether your company will sink or swim in the world of business."
13:20

"IT is now more important than ever. You're no longer down in the engine room - you're up on the bridge with the captain, scanning the horizon."
If there's one thing that's sure to get applause at a tech conference, it's Star Trek analogies.
13:20

"We believe we're at the next big shift in technology. We're ahead of the big shift in IT, because we know that it's really a shift in business. These shifts happen once every 5-10 years. I witnessed one of those shifts very clearly when I was at eBay. And when they happen, they change everything."
13:19
13:18

Whitman: "What else do you want in a partner? You want someone who's here today, but is also going to be here tomorrow. And let me tell you - Hewlett Packard is here to stay."
There's a steady gathering of applause.
13:17

Whitman: "We're helping you make sense of the IT world of today, and we're helping to build the IT world of tomorrow - because we know most of you have one foot in both."
13:17

Whitman: "I've come to Barcelona to show you how HP is helping its customers. I've personally met with over a thousand customers around the world, and everywhere I go, I heard one message - you want HP to win. You want us to continue to bring you solutions that help save your problems."
13:08

HP CEO Meg Whitman on the stage!
13:08

Packed hall!
13:06

"We're creating a Mount Everest of new data every day."
Is that the new way of measuring data?
13:03

Attendants zipping down the aisles on electric unicycles. A conference full of surreal moments...
13:01

Meg Whitman's keynote is about to start!
12:22

Had some great conversations today, with Jonathan Dove of HP Enterprise services, about the Earth Insights project, as well as Chris Selland, vice president of Vertica, about big data. Stay posted for those interviews!
09:21

BREAKING: HP announce HP Earth Insights, a collaboration with Conservation International to create an "early warning system" for species extinction. Could big data analytics save the world?
08:54

The laid-off workers are handing out leaflets outside, accusing HP management of "compromising the quality of HP products and technicians" by promoting a policy of staff reductions.
08:52

Today's proceedings started with a bang, as groups of protesters gathered outside the Fira de Barcelona centre, letting off fire crackers, chanting, waving flags and playing what at least sounded like communist workers' tunes over a crackly tannoy. They're protesting against recent massive layoffs by HP, in which 28,000 workers have been cut from the workforce since 2012.
08:44

And we're back, for day 2 of HP Discover in Barcelona.
16:36

Just spoke to Tom Joyce about big data, SMBs and what the future holds for Converged Systems. Stick around for a full interview!
15:48

Stay posted for a press briefing with Tom Joyce himself, Senior Vice President and GM, Converged Systems.
15:48

Phew, a crazy hour and a half! Now we break out into talks.
15:48

Scott: "we have extensive abilities to encrypt data at rest, and that's an increasing demand of our clients."
15:48

Now for a quick Q&A.

Joyce: "best of breed is different from market-leading. Leading the market is a heritage from what you did in the past, but best of breed is having the greatest capacity right now. "
15:47

HINT: Major announcement hinted around flexible capacity service!
15:47

BREAKING: HP StoreAll Archive released!
15:47

How often have you heard these, eh?
15:46

"StoreOnce Backup reduced our storage administration costs by 50% and backup window by 70%, so we could maintain around-the clock operation" - Thomas Poulsen CIO of EETIF
15:46

BREAKING: HP announces HP StoreOnce Backup Family.
15:46

Pronounce your T's man! Were you brought up by wolves?
15:45

"If a customer lost 600TB of data with our competitors, the recovery time is up to 80 hours. That could cost you your entire business."
15:45

"Over 90 per cent of all data ever collected by private companies was collected over the last two years."
Also: the value of time for an average enterprise is around 250,000 Euros an hour. Crazy!
15:45

Scott: "Changing nothing risks everything."
15:45
15:44

Scott: "it's been a bad day for EMC and Cisco, and I'm about to make it a lot worse."
15:44

Now on to David Scott, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Converged Systems.
15:44

Joyce: "We're one company. We're HP. We have control over our whole production line. We can do this project at about 25 per cent lower than our competitors. And we have a much lower cost per VM."
15:44

"Their utility payment model allows users to add scale and when it's needed."
15:43

Joyce: "These converged systems can work about twice as fast as their competitors, while costing up to a quarter less."
15:43

More rolling supercomputers.
15:43

HP Converged Systems 700 and HP Converged Systems 300 announced - exciting times!
15:43

Surreal moment as the new converged systems supercomputer edges out from behind a curtain with the two-strings Jaws theme playing.
Joyce: "I don't know if you hear that, but if I was VCE I'd get out of the water."
15:43

"Sharks are designed to complete their mission."
15:42
15:42

HP reveals that it has been working on a super-secretive "project shark". Gummy sharks explained!
15:40

"Setup mistakes are what happen when too many people are touching a project and adding customisations. Customers want to move past complex and custom and into standard and simple"
"Customers want a truly simple virtualization machine."
15:40
15:38

Joyce: "We've shipped more infrastructure for virtual machines than any other companies in the history of IT. We know what we're doing."
15:38

Now Tom Joyce is coming on to speak to us, the Senior Vice President and GM, Converged Systems at Hewlett-Packard!
15:38

"By our DNA, we are a partnering organisation. We work together with our partners to deliver great solutions for our customers."
15:38

"We have a comprehensive set of services - more comprehensive than any other vendor in the marketplace."
Is that true?
15:37
15:36

"It's not just about better software and better hardware, it's about getting those services out there. It's about providing 24/7/365 pro-active support with our services."
15:35

"The converged cloud is not simply a private cloud. It's inside the firewall as well as outside the firewall."
"Our partners tell us 'you've got the best services, you've got the best services', but we want to see those brought into an integrated service."
14:45

"We have a dream of converged infrastructure that is not just isolated, brittle silos of infrastructure."
14:38

"Solutions aren't just about a software or hardware packages, or a services infrastructure. Solutions are about all three."
14:16

HP: "We're asking the big questions - what if? and what now?"
14:12

Pity about all the popcorn rustling.
14:11

Very Apple-ish opening video.
14:11

Very Apple-ish opening video.
14:10

Popcorn and gummy-sharks? HP saying "sit back and enjoy the ride". And also aren't sharks cool?
13:55

In little over an hour, we'l be hearing firsthand about all the breaking news to come out of HP Converged Systems.
13:53

While you're waiting for the action to start, why not check out the official agenda, as well as the full session and demo catalogue, available on the HP website.
13:50

From HP:
"HP Discover is your best opportunity in 2013 to learn how to put HP innovation to work for you. More than 7,000 IT executives, managers, architects, engineers, and solution experts from around the world will gather at HP Discover to explore technology developments, strategies, and best practices. Featuring hundreds of business and technical sessions, HP Discover will equip your organization to convert data into value, technology into solutions, and ideas into economic and social impact."
13:49

Over the next two and a half days, we'll be bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage of all the breaking HP news tipped to be released this year, plus photos and a breakdown of what this means for business, customers and IT managers.
By the looks of it, last year's conference was quite a show!
13:43
13:39

Welcome HP Discover in Fira Barcelona - the second largest conference centre in Europe. It's like ten aircraft hangers all in a row - pretty impressive!