HP Positioning Autonomy Acquisition as Windows XP's Savior

Acquired in 2011, Autonomy has caused HP all sorts of headaches. Purchased for $10 billion but written down for $8.8 billion the following year, HP accused Autonomy of misrepresenting its value and since then has yet to find a use for it.

That changed this week when HP Autonomy announced HP Connected Backup 8.8. HP Connected Backup provides real-time backup services, moving data to either the HP Cloud or a local datacenter. With Microsoft's Windows XP deadline looming (April 2014), HP is kicking off promotions for the new version as part of a program to help customers migrate off of the dying operating system.

The solution enables end-users to manage the data migration on their own, furthering the march of the consumerization of IT. Once, the data has been stored, users can access it using any iOS, Android, or Windows device, not unlike an Enterprise version of Box, SkyDrive, or Dropbox.

The full press release

HP Advances Enterprise PC Backup for On-premises and Cloud Endpoint Data Protection

Sep 24, 2013

HP Connected Backup 8.8 simplifies organizational data migration needs driven by Windows XP end-of-life announcement

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 24, 2013 - HP Autonomy today announced the release of HP Connected Backup 8.8, which features a newly designed user interface that greatly enhances the user experience by enabling intuitive self-service recovery of enterprise data, anytime and anywhere.

HP Connected Backup 8.8 provides flexible protection of enterprise data, whether located on a few dozen or several thousand desktop and laptop PCs, and greatly reduces the cost and labor associated with traditional IT data migrations.

Microsoft recently announced that all formal support for Windows® XP will not be available past April 2014. As a result, many organizations are finding themselves faced with the need to refresh hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of PCs and laptops with updated Windows 7- or Windows 8-based systems. For many organizations this impending PC refresh will require massive data migration, a process that is typically expensive and time-consuming, and often involves complex migration tools that lack the key functionality needed to effectively manage large-scale migrations.

HP Connected Backup 8.8 meets the critical needs of organizations facing this situation. This solution eliminates the risk of data loss during migrations, enables fast, reliable and secure migration of data to new PCs, and eliminates the need for costly and laborious migration tools and IT intervention.

HP Connected Backup 8.8 simplifies the desktop refresh process by providing IT administrators with the global capability to scale the data migration process across the entire enterprise, eliminating data loss due to user error and downtime that typically accompanies laptop migrations. User data is backed up to an on-site or cloud-based data center that can be accessed by administrators and end users, who are able to gain self-service access to all of their backed-up data the moment that they log in to their new PC. Data can be accessed during the migration process and remains under continuous protection post-migration.

HP Connected Backup 8.8 features the following unique and valuable capabilities:

"Typical desktop migrations often involve complex tools that don't scale, and include many IT man-hours and downtime for users," said David Jones, general manager, Enterprise Data Protection, HP Autonomy. "The release of Connected Backup 8.8 offers a simple, secure, scalable and enterprise-proven solution that eliminates the risk of data loss during migrations and continuous protection of user data on their new system."

Additional information about Connected Backup 8.8 is available at www.autonomy.com/connected. A demonstration of the unique capabilities of Connected Backup 8.8 will be shown at a webinar on Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. PT.

About HP Autonomy

HP Autonomy is a global leader in software that processes human information, or unstructured data, including social media, email, video, audio, text and web pages, etc. Autonomy's powerful management and analytic tools for structured information together with its ability to extract meaning in real time from all forms of information, regardless of format, is a unique tool for companies seeking to get the most out of their data. Autonomy's product portfolio helps power companies through enterprise search analytics, business process management and OEM operations. Autonomy also offers information governance solutions in areas such as eDiscovery, content management and compliance, as well as marketing solutions that help companies grow revenue, such as web content management, online marketing optimization and rich media management. Please visit www.autonomy.com to find out more.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. With the broadest technology portfolio spanning printing, personal systems, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP delivers solutions for customers' most complex challenges in every region of the world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.