This IDC study is part of a series focusing on the product portfolio and current market positioning of the major datacenter OEMs in the area of converged systems, as available in the EMEA markets in 2012. In addition to providing market data and context for HP integrated systems products, the study analyzes channel and sales strategy for the vendor and briefly discusses competitive landscape in the region.

"As enterprise IT gear goes through a commoditization curve and sees growing competition from IaaS cloud capacity providers, the competitive landscape is consolidating, with all major vendors trying to offer integrated solutions of various sorts," said Giorgio Nebuloni, senior research analyst, IDC EMEA Enterprise Server Group. "HP was one of the first players to become aware of this trend, and it has developed a very broad portfolio in converged systems spanning from workload optimized to workload agnostic. EMEA customers are experimenting with integrated systems, and purchasing patterns vary strongly depending on the system type and customer segment. The market reach of HP is unparalleled in the region, but simplification of converged portfolio is recommended to maximize growth and shrink long sales cycles."