In the tech world, the past may belong to massive big-iron machines, but the future will be dominated by small devices. Billions of small devices, like smartphones and sensors, are already coming together in a network of information called the Internet of Things. Companies that can support this network and process the vast amounts of data it brings will prosper from this digital transformation.

At the HPE Discover EU conference in London, Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Paul Gillin (@pgillin), co-hosts of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, sat down to discuss the strategies Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. is using to take hold of this networked future. (* Disclosure below.)

Taking intelligence to the edge

The conversation started as the two compared HPE to the Hewlett-Packard of old. Gillin mentioned that HPE is a leaner version of HP, yet very focused on hardware, servers, storage and IoT. He called HPE “the arms supplier to the cloud” with how it is positioning itself to support remote computing.

Vellante pointed out that HPE was also seeing a newer initiative, what it called “the Intelligent Edge.” In concept, this means doing the processing of IoT data at the source, the edge of the network, rather than a central machine. As the IoT grows, centralized data processing will become more difficult, if not impossible. Gillin agreed. “The edge is how the IoT is going to develop,” he said.

A tipping point for a growing business

As an entity, HPE is rather young and still finding its feet. It has made progress. Gillin stated that in an earnings call last week, the only department that underperformed was its core server business. He felt this represented a tipping point with HPE growing business in new areas as legacy markets declined.

Acquisitions were also considered. Gillin saw the HP of old as being good at managing acquisitions. Now, HPE is in a position to go after some big fish. Gillin pondered, will HPE follow the path of HP and put its money into grabbing more companies? That’s a question that so far has no answer.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of HPE Discover EU. (*Disclosure: HPE and other companies sponsor some HPE Discover EU segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither HPE nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo by SiliconANGLE