Partnerships in the fast-paced realm of technology are often fleeting, with companies coming together for a brief time before moving on to the next opportunity.

Two industry titans, Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., are proof of the power of long-term collaboration. The 30-year partnership that the companies have fostered has not just survived throughout the years — it has thrived, evolving in lockstep with the ever-changing landscape of hybrid cloud solutions.

“I think that the last years is really what brings us even more together, as we are moving from old cloud to hybrid,” said Valerie Da Fonesca, (pictured, right), senior director of worldwide hybrid cloud sales at HPE. “We are really trying to bring that consistent experience operating model across all the different IT estates.”

Da Fonesca and Dion Ubert (left), global hybrid cloud sales director at Microsoft, spoke with theCUBE industry analysts Rob Strechay and Rebecca Knight at the HPE Discover Barcelona event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the secrets behind Microsoft and HPE’s enduring alliance and the vital role the companies play in shaping the future of hybrid cloud technology. (* Disclosure below.)

The strength of a 30-year collaboration

With three decades of collaboration under their belts, HPE and Microsoft have endured a lot of ups and downs. In addition, the shift from traditional to hybrid cloud has led to HPE and Microsoft developing an even stronger partnership driven by data.

“It’s all about data,” Da Fonesca said. “When we take all that bunch of data, bringing the AI on top of that, it becomes super obvious that you need to really bring and cover everything across hybrid.”

What makes this partnership unique is not just the longevity, but the depth of the collaboration, from design and engineering to selling, creating a seamless synergy. The partnership has yielded some big milestones, particularly in the hybrid cloud space, where the world is shifting toward a hybrid environment, with solutions such as HPE GreenLake and other joint platforms, according to Ubert.

“It’s not only that we sell together, we engineer together, we develop together, we design together, we sell together,” he said. “I think we have a great historic relationship.”

Hybrid cloud trends and customer success stories

Windows Server 2012 end of life, digitalization across various industries and data regulations have all converged to create a demand for hybrid solutions. Organizations are seeking ways to manage their legacy systems efficiently while ensuring visibility, control and optimal workload placement across different environments, according to Ubert.

“When you really think around in the past where customers had that data sitting in a warehouse and just hope that the machine was up and running, now they want to have a holistic perspective because the world is global,” he said. “I think with the GreenLake portal, enabling that in those kind of scenarios really allows customers to be more efficient to drive innovation, as well as to utilize their data in a much [more] efficient way.”

Customer use cases highlight the practical applications of Microsoft Azure and HPE GreenLake. For instance, in the retail sector, outdated Windows Servers in thousands of stores were transformed into digitalized retail environments. Cameras and AI-driven applications were integrated to enhance security and the overall digital experience. In manufacturing, the focus shifted to making factories smarter, with sensors and data analytics playing a crucial role in improving efficiency and maintenance.

“It’s not about having one application that I put it here and it stays here,” Da Fonesca said. “I want to make sure that I always have the right workloads at the right place [and] at the right price. But if you don’t get the operating model right … it will never work.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the HPE Discover Barcelona event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the HPE Discover Barcelona event. Neither Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., the main sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE