HP and service provider cloud tools

HP has unveiled a set of tools that will help service providers offer cloud-based services, but they’ will also help build service-layer infrastructure. The tools include HP Operations Orchestration, HP Communications as a Service, and an update to the HP Cloud Assure management platform. We’ve noticed that more computing vendors are now getting into the service-layer deployment issue, filling a vacuum that was left for years by network equipment vendors. The new offerings are still incomplete in our view, lacking strong ties to the network and lacking convincing service assurance and composition mechanisms, but they’re moving in the right direction at least as fast as fledgling offerings from network vendors.