HP adds Colubris products to ProCurve portfolio 10 November, 2008 By Erin Bell

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The integration of Colubris products will allow HP to add wireless n capability, outdoor access points, client bridges, and new wireless mapping and security management software to its product portfolio.

"Wireless mobility is being deployed in more and more places, reaching further out into not just dense city populations, but into rural and suburban populations. That's a huge area for growth," said Corey Copping, product marketing manager, ProCurve Networking, HP.

According to Copping, HP sees the wireless market growing by at least 25 per cent next year, and the company plans to capitalize on in.

"Interestingly enough," Copping added, "50 to 60 per cent of that growth will come from wireless n solutions. Customers are demanding leading edge technology that allows for the most bandwidth and the most information to be pumped through at a time, and right now wireless n is the fastest wireless throughput you can get."

According to Abner Germanow, enterprise networks research director at IDC, IDC expects HP and its competitors to continue to drive the cost of operating WLANs down while improving performance and reliability.

"WLAN has evolved from a niche technology to the primary mode of network access in education, healthcare, and other industries," Germanow said. "[HP's acquisition of ProCurve] enhances the HP access networking portfolio today and HP's ability to innovate in the access layer."

In conjunction with the integration announcement, HP has also announced a new wireless access point, the MSM410. The MSM410 is an indoor wireless n access point designed for installation in office environments, hotels, hospitals and dormitories.

According to Copping, all of the indoor access points that HP inherited from Colubris will carry the ProCurve lifetime warranty, which replaces failed products -- no matter how old -- with the most current version of the technology the next day.

HP also announced changes to its ProCurve Manager Plus software. Now, in addition to managing ProCurve switches, wireless and wired products, the software will detect any Colubris access points on the network and automatically install firmware and software updates as they become available, giving customers a single view of their network.

Tim Beech, technical marketing manager for Howard Technology Solutions, said that the addition of the Colubris product line extends HP ProCurve's reach into new vertical markets, such as hospitality, transportation, manufacturing and service provider, with no overlap in the channel.

"The Colubris acquisition not only allows ProCurve to deliver a stronger wired and wireless solution, but also to address opportunities in the wireless overlay market, delivering even more best-in-class choices for customers worldwide," said Beech.

HP will announce details about the new products, including pricing, availability and SKUs, to its reseller channel on Dec. 1.

HP will be providing technical training and new product training webinars to sales reps and software engineers. The company is also working to update the mobility area of its wireless certification path to include the new line-up of Colubris products. Copping said HP epects to have the new courses updated by early 2009.