Polycom announced it will acquire the assets of HP’s
Visual Collaboration business, including the Halo Products and Managed Services
business.
In line with this acquisition, HP and Polycom have agreed
to establish a strategic relationship in which Polycom will serve as an
exclusive partner to HP for telepresence and certain video UC solutions,
including both resale and internal HP deployments. The two companies have also
agreed to make available Polycom’s video applications for HP’s WebOS platform.
The alliance extends Polycom‘s leadership
in the Unified Communications and Collaboration market with HP’s installed base
of visual collaboration products
and technology. The exclusive partnership broadens the company’s strategic
relationship with HP and expands the UC solutions HP offers its global customer
base.
Under the terms of its agreements with HP, Polycom will
provide expertise in software technology and UC infrastructure, covering the
full continuum of integrated and secure mobile, desktop, room and telepresence
solutions. HP will provide its expertise and leadership in go-to-market
strategies for UC solutions and will resell Polycom’s UC solutions including:
personal and group UC devices, UC infrastructure, UC managed services, and audio/video
software.
This alliance combines HP’s networking scale and global
reach with Polycom’s expertise in video conferencing to provide customers
world-class video and UC solutions through Polycom infrastructure deployed on
HP networking
and systems.
This also allows customers to capitalize on the critical
importance of networking as the foundation for a superior video experience and
tap the global services of HP for turnkey communications solutions.
This announcement is a truly groundbreaking development
in the UC industry, creating a path for Polycom and HP to offer customers an
end-to-end UC solution with an unparalleled user experience, interoperability,
investment protection, and ease of deployment,” said Andrew Miller, president
and CEO of Polycom.
The transaction makes the most of the strength of two
industry leading, customer-centric organizations to offer a seamless UC
experience with high-quality, enterprise-class telepresence solutions to
millions of customers. Our broadened relationship with HP underscores Polycom’s
focus and commitment to bring the most advanced and innovative UC solutions to
market,” Miller added.
Customers will benefit from this transaction and
alliance because they will receive the focus of two world-class technology
companies through greater service and product opportunities,” said Shane
Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer of
HP.
