HPE CEO Meg Whitman has talked up the potential of hybrid IT and edge computing to handle the increasing amounts of data being created by business IT systems and IoT devices.
Speaking at the opening keynote of HPE Discover Europe 2016, which is taking place in London this week, Whitman said that IoT devices are becoming increasingly powerful, describing connected cars as computers "with four wheels and a cockpit".
With these sensors and devices creating ever more data and requiring ever more responsive feedback, Whitman said, bringing computing power to the edge (i.e. as close to the sensors themselves, rather than residing in the data centre) has never been more important.
The "intelligent edge", as she described it, reduces latency by extending compute, storage and, most importantly, analytics as close as possible to the connected devices to improve their performance.
As for HPE's role in this, the company will provide businesses with both infrastructure and analytical capabilities to help them make the most of the "exploding" volume of data being generated.
"As I like to say, HPE is going to be the IT in IoT," Whitman said.
In addition to talking about the power of edge computing for the IoT, the HPE CEO also took time to reaffirm the company's hybrid IT message.
"For us, hybrid IT means finding the right mix for you," she said. This mix will inevitably include apps that reside exclusively on a company's data, at least in some cases, as well as data held on private clouds, managed services like Salesforce and Workday, and public cloud, she claimed.
Whitman added that this mix must be flexible and able to evolve as companies' needs change.
"Our goal," she said, "is to make Hybrid IT simple."
HPE Discover runs from 29 November 1 December at London's Earl's Court. Stay tuned for more from the event.
