HP Pairs with Google Apps
July 2, 2013
Google plus HP? Stranger things have happened. All Things D reveals, “HP and Google Team Up to Offer Small Businesses ‘IT in a Box’.” Now a Google Apps reseller, HP will be packaging Googly management tools with computers, printers, and other hardware. Writer Arik Hesseldahl observes:
“It’s the latest move on the chessboard by HP to get a little closer to Google, and it is interesting in light of the fact that Microsoft has both been building its own hardware — the Surface — and also cozying up to HP rival Dell with a $2 billion loan to help finance its $24.4 billion leveraged buyout. The move is also taking place against the backdrop of HP’s further embrace of Android and Chrome-based hardware. It just added a second Chromebook to its line of notebooks, and also offers an Android-based tablet.
“Google is getting something pretty attractive out the deal, too: HP’s considerable relationships in the channel — the network of third-party resellers that offer customized packages of products to businesses.”
Sounds like a sweet deal for both HP and Google. Will the consumer be similarly blessed? Hesseldahl ponders other changes the arrangement could bring. He suspects the team could soon add more HP hardware to the Google Apps bundle, like servers and networking equipment, for a special small-business package. That could be helpful; we’ll just have to wait and see.
Cynthia Murrell, July 02, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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