By Alex Scroxton12 August 2008HP ProCurve has revealed that demand
from corporate users and reseller partners for wireless solutions was a big
factor in yesterday’s acquisition of wireless LAN vendor Colubris.
“This acquisition is based on need,”
said ProCurve vice-president and general manager Marius Haas. “We’ve been
working on wireless, but when we did an assessment of the cost benefits of
organic development versus the cost benefits of acquiring a company like
Colubris, it was a pretty easy decision.”
As revealed yesterday by MicroScope,
HP ProCurve has handed over an undisclosed sum for Massachusetts-based Colubris,
giving the networking vendor a route into the lucrative WLAN sector.
Analysts had already suggested the
deal could be the beginning of a strategic shift for ProCurve, which was
historically notoriously shy of the M&A arena. But Haas insisted this was
not the case.
ProCurve EMEA boss Alberto Soto
García said: “Two years ago you will recall the rumour was we were going to be
sold or spun off, but the reality now is we are purchasing technology, so I
think there will be a major shift in how ProCurve is perceived.”
Canalys analyst Andy Buss said the
acquisition would allow ProCurve to compete on a level footing in areas where
converged networks were key and Cisco was strongest.
“It won’t approach Cisco’s position
in the next couple of years, but can play to its strengths and take some
marketshare,” he claimed.
In terms of product integration,
ProCurve anticipates Colubris’ WLAN portfolio will slot neatly into its own
product suite. The new partners are in the middle of developing a more detailed
roadmap and anticipate releasing further details before very much longer.
Back in April, Colubris launched a
worldwide partner programme which could now be perceived as under threat. Tom
Racca, Colubris marketing vice president, conceded there would naturally be
worries over the future of the programme, but assured channel partners they
would not be cast aside.
“It’s a great opportunity for
partners to move into the HP programme. We have a strong solution today and by
rolling that up with ProCurve we think it’s an unbelievable solution set to take
to market,” he said.
Subject to the right boxes being
ticked, the acquisition should go through at the end of October, although Haas
hinted both parties were very keen to bring the closure date forward.
