As Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) ended day one of HPE Discover 2016, held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and John Furrier (@furrier), cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, discussed key insights from the day’s activity.

According to Furrier, the new HP is standing tall. “The keynote [held today] was really a continuation of Meg Whitman’s [CEO of HPE] vision of being there for their customers,” he said.

A lack of focus

Furrier asked Vellante for his take. “So far this notion of focus, what I’ve always said … they have to shrink to grow, seems to be working,” he replied. According to Vellante, the consolidation of the company and the focus on enterprise data center and hybrid cloud puts it in a better position. He still feels it is early, but he sees some headway.

The consensus is that the HPE needs better leadership, more outcomes and more wins. Furrier noted that Whitman knows she is not where she wants to be yet as a result of the distraction of the company split and executive shifts. “If she pulls this off, she will have the last laugh,” Furrier quipped.

Vellante remarked that she can’t do it with low-profit margins and without a supply chain equal to that of Dell, Inc.

Looking for red flags

While taking notes over the day, Furrier was looking for red flags. He couldn’t find many. He does, however, see a couple good things lining up for them. “The composable, the notion of flexing resources, if they can pull that off it’s a home run,” he argued.

The concept of the enterprise developer – new class of developer – is another key element of success, according to Furrier. Combining web developers, app developers, mobile developer and consumer development in the cloud within the enterprise with all the nuances of compliance, databases, systems of record, he believes you will see the convergence of those two developer sets.

Furrier said driving the software business is where they need to go, and Vertica could be the crown jewel of the company. However, there is a lot of work to do there. The bigger story for Whitman is that she cannot be the “digital transformation factory” she claims to be without a strong software business.

CEO of the decade

Furrier feels Whitman could be CEO of the decade, but she needs a stronger software business. What does he think it will take? He listed the following:

1. Real revenue growth
2. HPE has to be a viable company (Good bones and management talent)
3. Happy customers
4. A really robust ecosystem – shared vision and shared economic growth

Vellante added to Furrier’s list with good mergers and acquisitions like Vertica.

“You can come in late to the party on an early ramp, ride the cloud wave and what they can attach to it,” explained Furrier. “It’s not about who starts first but who finishes first.”

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of HPE Discover 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE