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HP Sharpens Blades, Thin Clients

HP's got a new line of Blade workstations and thin clients out. There are loads of details about the new lineup here.

A major target for HP's Blade business is financial traders -- you know, like the ones who used to work on Wall Street. Ha ha. Actually, though, there are still some traders out there, and according to HP folks they might very well be using Blade workstations in the near future. The financial downturn, HP officials told RCPU in a phone chat this week (see -- original reporting!) has led to an increase in interest in HP's wares.

"In this time of turmoil, we're in recent weeks seeing dramatic uptick of opportunity," said Dan Olsen, worldwide business development manager for HP Blade workstations. Blade "is a very interesting tool for an acquiring bank as they acquire somebody else," he said, primarily because Blade workstations allow the acquirer to get traders from the acquired bank quickly up and running on the surviving bank's infrastructure. Plus, the thin-client workstation model is relatively inexpensive, and Olsen says that financial institutions are "looking for very smart ways to spend in IT."

So, there you go! The downturn turns out to be an upturn for some companies, including HP.

Posted by Lee Pender on October 23, 2008


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