Most companies in the tech world know that managing the digital transformation is key to surviving the challenges of the future. However, few businesses know exactly what to do or have the people ready to make the transformation happen. Industry giant Hewlett-Packard Co. has recently made a number of moves to position itself as a partner to these companies, ready to help bring them into the digital world.

To bring these issues into focus, John Furrier and Dave Vellante of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s Media production team, sat down with Colin Mahony, senior VP and GM of HP Software Big Data, at the HP Big Data 2015 conference.

The discussion started off with a question about how HP works with its customers. Mahony explained they fit HP’s applications to the client’s specific needs, a necessary thing because every business has its own unique infrastructure.

Data and platforms

The skills involved in working with Big Data are fairly scarce, Mahony said, so the job at HP is to make sure IT workers don’t have to be statisticians to make sense of the data. They work with companies to bring about a culture that can properly use Big Data information, while also closing the tech gap between what a company has and what it needs.

This is where platforms come in. Part of the process is creating a platform that will work for the business, while educating the employees on the benefits of how a platform will let them do more than before. HP uses a set of open standards that allows the parts of its platform systems to integrate well with the client’s infrastructure.

Confidence in startups

Many startup companies have turned to HP for help in setting up their IT infrastructure. HP itself began as a startup, and that history remains in its DNA to this day. Because of this, it takes pride in helping other startups get off the ground.

HP’s main strategy is to change the economics for startups by offering discounts and aid in getting going. In return, HP plans to invest in some of these companies.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the HP Big Data Conference 2015.

Photo by SiliconANGLE