The success of Hewlett-Packard’s new data analytics platform will depend on integration and its ability to generate business value, writes Wikibon analyst Jeff Kelly. The recently unveiled HAVEn (short for Hadoop, Autonomy, Vertica, Enterprise Security and “n,” as in the number of apps that will run on top of the solution) is pegged as a unified framework for analyzing structured and unstructured data.

As the name suggests, HAVEn is based on number of different products. Among these are Hadoop distributions from Cloudera, Hortonworks and MapR, three of the largest software vendors in the Big Data market. Partnering with these firms allows HP to kill two birds with one stone by embracing the open-source community and breaking out of the traditional vendor lock-in model at the same time.

Besides Hadoop, HAVEn includes over 700 connectors designed to make it easier for users to tap into structured, multi-structured and unstructured data sources. The platform also features HP’s ArcSight Logger machine data solution, Vertica’s MPP database software, and unstructured text analytics functionality courtesy of Autonomy. Only a few applications are available for HAVEn on launch, however that is expected to change with time.

Vendors both large and small are rushing to introduce software-defined service layers for Hadoop solutions, but Kelly believes that only six will be able to secure leadership positions in the marketplace. He highlights that Hewlett-Packard is well positioned to make this list thanks to its dominant presence in the hardware market, but it will have to address a number of challenges in order to turn this vision into a reality. Specifically:

1. HP will have to show customers that the framework is more than just a “collection of disparate technologies.” Orchestration and workload management capabilities are necessary for the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts.

2. Judging by the direction that the industry is going, HAVEn will have to support the public cloud. Patrick Stewart, VP & GM at Avnet Technology Solutions, explained: “[The] CIO has to be able to look at what his core business is and think, ‘How do I serve that core?’ If your business allows you to outsource the Data Center and focus on applications, I suggest you do that,” the executive noted in a recent interview on theCube. He added that “We think HAVEn is a radical approach and an awesome approach, especially for the channel.”

3. Hewlett-Packard will have to team up with BI specialists and ISVs to deliver compelling business-facing applications atop its platform.