Weblog for am4computers.com

On November 11, 2009, HP and 3Com Corporation announced that they signed a definitive agreement for HP to acquire 3Com, a leading provider of networking switching, routing, and security solutions. The acquisition would create an innovative, networking leader that will transform the networking industry with a global reach.
The acquisition would create a robust set of end-to-end networking solutions in a $40B market. It would combine HP ProCurve networking strengths in the LAN edge with 3Com strengths in Core switching. 3Com would also offer the opportunity to add a leading security offering with its TippingPoint business.

The combination of HP and 3Com would offer customers a superior networking alternative.  Together, the combined businesses would provide customers with a comprehensive set of enterprise-class solutions based on open, industry standards and innovative technology that simplifies the network, delivers best-in-class price-performance, and improves IT service delivery capabilities.

With the addition of 3Com, HP expects to become the #2 enterprise networking vendor worldwide and significantly strengthens HP’s position in one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, China. HP also plans to build upon 3Com’s presence in China to fuel continued innovation.

The enhanced networking solutions would leverage the capabilities of the largest technology company in the world (#1 in servers, #1 in storage) and its global reach (extensive worldwide customer relationships, 154,000 partners) to deliver better business outcomes to the full spectrum of customers, from Fortune 100 enterprises to small businesses.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2010.
Customer value

With the addition of 3Com, HP would deliver a comprehensive and innovative set of enterprise-class networking solutions that simplify the network, drive best-in-class price-performance at the lowest total cost of ownership, and transform the network from a connectivity tool to a business enabler.
HP, with a focus on purposeful innovation based on open, industry standards, enables customers to break free from the limitations imposed by expensive, rigid, and proprietary networking infrastructure. This not only reduces acquisition and operations costs but also creates flexibility for customers to deploy best-in-class solutions—which include market-leading partners.

The enhanced networking solutions would further accelerate HP’s next generation data center architecture strategy, the HP Converged Infrastructure architecture. Underpinned by the robust, end-to-end HP networking offerings, the HP Converged Infrastructure helps customers rebalance their innovation-operations/maintenance ratio, makes adminstrators more productive, enables faster time to value, improves service levels, and increases capacity utilization, all leading to an IT environment that adapts to the most demanding needs and delivers better business outcomes.