Building and managing cloud services within an integrated system is no easy task. But for the world’s largest computer maker, Hewlett Packard, this seems to be just a walk in the park. Fabricated based on HP Converged Infrastructure and Cloud Service Automation, the HP CloudSystem integrates system management, servers, storage, networking, and security across private, public and hybrid cloud. These comprehensive and hefty features are what lured Latisys, a national provider of collocation and disaster recovery solutions into tapping services of HP.

Vice President of Engineering at Latisys, Christian Teeft cited primary reasons that led them to choosing HP CloudSystem to anchor their private cloud solution: “Today’s CIO seeks solutions that deliver on the promise of cloud computing – on-demand infrastructure, self-service, consumption-based billing, ‘burstability’ and rapid provisioning – without compromising security and reliability.

“The HP CloudSystem goes beyond ‘enterprise-grade’ — delivering a ‘service provider-grade’ solution that enables us to make the private cloud a reality for any organization, regardless of how complex or demanding their infrastructure requirements may be.”

While HP is still struggling in stock market and Leo Apotheker’s leadership is in question as usual, the company remains strong in storage updates and upgrades, with SMB’s as they main target. The SMB IT market poses vast opportunities and HP is very quick to recognize this. Now, they added two new servers and enterprise-class features to beef up their storage portfolio. HP also integrated VMware API in their slab and offer backup services to PC’s.

Competition within the storage solutions field is still on fire. HP’s biggest opponent on the block is Dell. With its leader expressing strong affinity for storage, Dell has been relentlessly seeking better solutions for their partners and even featured innovations in the first Dell Storage Forum 2011. While the company’s security and storage may have drawn mixed reviews, Dell made a bold move when it acquired RNA Networks to bring the edge factor, transforming monster server of varied workloads.

Clearly, the storage war is still on, and the giants are clashing like there is no tomorrow. This is a good sign for consumers and customers because they will be presented with more options, and perhaps alternatives.