HP's sights are set on the cloud, declares new CEO

It’s the cloud from now on, was the message from Leo Apotheker, who took over the reigns as CEO of HP this morning.

HP’s cloud platform will be “a single open market that integrates consumer, enterprise and developer services – each of us with our own personal cloud, comprising our consumer and professional lives – always on, and always available, separate, secure and seamless.”

To date HP is best known for selling printers and computers, but the company is now working on developing new internet-based services. This will include an app store for consumer as well as business clients – and especially the latter market remains far from saturated. HP’s “personal cloud” would enable people to access work applications from their personal smartphones and communicate with co-workers and customers via social networks.

The TouchPad, set for a June launch, is part of this strategy. Apotheker was clear on the importance of software for HP’s way forward. “The world is connected, people to people. People want information where and when they need it,” Apotheker said. “We intend to be the platform for the cloud and connectivity.”

While the printers and PCs are expected to remain the company’s bread and butter for some time to come, it is interesting to see HP take this leap. The company will however need to prove itself against steep competition from the likes of Amazon and Salesforce. Emphasising the widespread offerings of the group, Apotheker said: “HP has a great strategy and we will be focusing on all of our lines of businesses including our PCs, including our server business, including our networking business and of course including of our software business.”