 from London, England, extracting the signal from the noise. It's the CUBE Cover Discover 2015, brought to you by Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Now your hosts, John Furrier and Dave Vellante. Okay, welcome back everyone. We are live here in London, England for HP Enterprise Discover, HPE Discover. This is Silicon Angles theCUBE. It's our flagship program. We go out to the events and extract the signal from the noise. I'm John Furrier with my co-host Dave Vellante. And our next guest is Alon Carpentier, VP and GM of EMEA, Europe, Middle East and Africa Networking Group within HP Enterprise. Welcome to the CUBE. Good to see you. So, different go-to-markets in Europe. You have countries, well now it's EU, but still, countries still. What's the difference? Is there a geography go-to-market difference considered in North America with networking because you now have telcos, you have regulations, you got tariffs, all the stuff's happening. What's the dynamics within networking? Yeah, I think it's quite different than obviously US. I've seen the market is really fragmented. You are, you know, the same kind of business that we can do in Europe, like in US, but you have a booming market such as Middle East. You know, Dubai, Saudi, where, especially for the networking domain, there are a lot of projects around healthcare, around mobility, a lot of malls, a lot of retails, that vertical approach, a lot of hotel also. So for the networking business, especially on mobility, so it's really a booming domain in the Middle East. So, it's different type of business, Europe, Middle East, Eastern country where we have some challenge leading to the, you know, Russian economy. So it's why it's, we have some challenge, but we have a lot of opportunities, especially with the Aruba acquisition where they help us to open new markets and the mobility is really moving fast now. So it's why I'm... Wireless is perfect for you, right? Exactly, it's fantastic, it's really fantastic. What about A? What about Africa? What's happening in Africa? How do you approach it? I think it's... Carefully. Yeah. Well, it's tricky, right? I mean, in South Africa, everybody is always, you know... No, so South Africa is a big market. I have to admit that we need to invest more. I think it's a mix between Europe in terms of type of business and booming like you could find in the Middle East. So it's a big market where we have decided to invest. Well, I mean, the population's huge, but when to invest is kind of the question, is it the next China or is it still... Yeah, they are part of the emerging, big, you know, promising countries. I think they have a lot of projects now around education, around health care. Government, yeah, exactly. So I'm a big believer that it will work there. Something about wireless, so I want to get back to that because Europe has the older cities and towns and buildings. Campus Refresh, we talked earlier in the US, a lot of that going on. Wireless gives you now a new edge. Talk about the dynamics. Any sales metrics that you're looking at in terms of refresh, percentage of companies will adopt this new wireless paradigm. And then two, what kind of lift do you get from your other products from that? Because it's pretty strategic. This wireless stuff from Aruba looks very strong, strategically with the data. What are you seeing there? So I think there are, as I mentioned, different type of opportunities. So if you take the workplace, clearly the big part of the campus today that the customer use are designed from the past world. So that means one user, one PC. And it's why for us, there is a big company event, especially in the Western Europe where you have a lot of customers that they will have to refresh their campus and they will reopen the books because they will have to move to the mobility. You know, the way we live in Europe is we work in the office between now more and more move at home. So there's like vacations, a lot of vacation time. You're right, you're right. And the frontier between the business and the lifetime is tight now. So it's why we are convinced that big part of the customers and we had the demonstration during this event, they will have to refresh their workplace. And clearly with the Aruba offer on wireless, but I would say on mobility, that's a big difference. The fact that we can secure the workplace, we can secure the wireless and we think more mobile first than really connection on the internet to Wi-Fi change drastically the approach. And it's something that we haven't in HP before. Aruba really helped us to develop this strategy. So I think this domain is really, really growing. And it's really fun in Europe because the more you go in the North, the more you have the early adopters. It's where the market is really booming there on workplace and we can be sure that this wave will go in the south of Europe in the coming year. So we have a big opportunity to- So North is where the early adopters are? Yeah, exactly. Like Ireland North or like India? Technotics, for example, they are already there. And if you take also vertical approach, you have big education compass, you have healthcare, digital hospital, all about wireless, mobility in the hospital, or you can help the hospital to have a better workforce, a better productivity of their workforce and you have a lot of project around these. Retail is another domain as well. We see all the retailer in Europe and also in the Middle East that they are moving in wireless solutions and they start to think about how they can make business in the stores with wireless approach. So that's really a booming domain right now. What's the biggest difference if you had to put it up down really on a soundbite in a quick statement between Europe and the rest of the world in terms of tech buying with networking? Is there a nuance? Is there a difference? What's the one big difference? To go to market the products, the buying pattern? First, the European, they want to have proof points before to buy. They are a little bit conservative and they want to have facts. So we need, it's very, big part of the time is the technical self where we have to demonstrate and we need to have a lot of reference. We need to have this kind of event where they can touch the solutions. So that's the first part. The second part, when the trend is starting, you can be sure that it will start. You know, it's really something that will move fast and it's what we see as I mentioned before in the early adopters countries such as Nordics. It's already started there and we see a big momentum. So it's why I would say if we compare with US, we need to give some proof points but then after when people are very convinced, I think it's moving forward and we are really in this phase now. So I wonder if I could ask you about the sentiment among senior executives on economic factors. So you've got the Euro weakening which could have a good positive effect on the economy in theory and then you've got the countervailing effects of Southern Europe and Greece in particular. What's the sentiment amongst executives on the economy? So that currency was a big challenge for us. So you see in the last fiscal year, a huge, huge challenge indeed. Well, a challenge for a US company but it may be an advantage for European companies. We are an American company so that means who you need is dollars. You know I understand but for a European based company it could be good news. Yeah but the difficulty we saw is that a customer when they put a budget in place it's in the local currency so like a German customer use Euro and the difficulty with one Euro, you have less dollar. I understand the impact on HP is negative. Now even for customers because in the networking domain, all the vendors work in dollar. So you need to convert the dollar. So there was a big pressure for customers to buy network equipment because it's one more expensive linked to the currency. Nevertheless, we see that the networking business in Europe and in Middle East as well was really, really great despite this increase of price. So I can imagine without this currency effect it could be a really impressive momentum. So the business was challenged clearly but the business didn't stop. So it was in certain way good years and especially in the wireless domain we see a big growth there. Yes, so that's specific to the networking business. What about the economy generally? What are CEOs optimistic within retail, within banking, within insurance? Are they more optimistic about the economy? Yeah, it's much better than the best just two or three years ago. It's much better. It's been somewhat static. Exactly, and I think the euro and the fact that the European banks decided to change drastically the approach helped us a lot in terms of business trend. So it really pushed the company to invest and with your big momentum now. I mean, as an observer, I feel like there's upside in the European marketplace. The problem with currencies, if it fluctuates too much it becomes very difficult. But if it can get basically stabilized people can expect and budget for. Yeah, and what is important to notice is that the companies start to reinvest but they are looking for innovation. So the way they invest now is really to think about the future and to be prepared about stop on, stop on acceleration. You know, they try to survive the cloud. It's a big momentum today for everybody on the marketplace and also for the networking who have more and more project around the cloud that help us a lot because it's really one competing event we want to address with all solutions. And clearly we see that all customers are looking for innovation. Cloud mobile wireless being free of those innovations. Exactly, mobility, cloud, it's really the two domains where on the networking we see the customer moving now. Talk about your strategy and how that changes with the Aruba acquisition and what the customer reaction has been to that change and strategy has changed but a little course correction if you will. So if you look the market situation if you take the campus part as I mentioned before the customer are moving more to the mobility so moving more to the wireless. So if you look the market analysis we see a double growth on the wireless and a decline, a slight decline on the switching part. So clearly for Ashby, the Aruba acquisition is key because Aruba in Europe was the big growing engine on the market, right? You know Aruba during the last two years they grew three times faster than the European market. So the combination of the two companies clearly help really to move forward and for Ashby is key because it's the engine to help us to penetrate the mobility and with the solution that we attach. So it's a rock move for us and the reception from market and the customer especially in this event they are really amazed by the solution because they understand that it's not only wireless, it's mobility and the difference is all the solution we provide around the access point and around the switches that we are setting to secure, to manage also to give some solution like geolocalization on this kind of solution that help them to make business with mobility. So we see a big amount of data having some app integration with the DevOps piece. Exactly. So we see, I mentioned retail we see a lot of retail customers that they want to understand what they can do with wireless localization in their store. We see a stadium or cities, you know, like London, you know, they try to say what can I do with this kind of solution to develop more, better customer experience or also business? Yeah, I was, you know, when we interviewed Dominic or Damor last in Vegas, it was very clear to me where this was going. And again, hearing him and you guys today, it's very clear that the strategic value for Aruba as access point, not just internet access, application access with all that end to end not an overlay. It's not an overlay from another network. It's a beautiful end to end. It enables policy based stuff, goodness. And yeah, and on top of that, I think we need to notice also the collaboration we have with Microsoft that is really key in this domain because as we say, it's not, as you say, a novel way. It's for application. We see a big momentum around the sky for business and also all the solution that Microsoft want to spread on the market through the mobile solutions and collaboration with HPEs. It overlays work. I mean, for the folks out there that don't know about overlays as deep as that, it works, but it's just disconnected. And so, you know, you can have an overlay network and just transitioning. And you're selling motion in customer sites must be completely changed. You can go in and try to sell business outcomes and leverage of HP, now HPE, but at the end of the day, when they've got to get a PO for a switch, it's like, okay, I got to buy a Cisco switch or HP, why should I buy your switch? Now, and you say, okay, better product, less expense. Okay, great, you have to fight that battle. Now you could completely change the game. Talk about how you're, how is that working in these early days still, but. Yeah, and I think it's what happened in the discovery this year as we communicate a lot around the transformation. We are really in a transformation domain. How we can have a customer to come from a situation A to B and the transformation is more business outcome. So it's why who sells for us is now a trend to have customers on this journey. So it's not anymore, I think it's always technical, but we are more in the business case and we try to evaluate with customers what are the benefits they could have to have less phone, you know, cable phone or we can have also to be more productive in the workplace or the company can make more business. So it's a different way, different approach that is not anymore technical sales. It's more business sales. Obviously, beyond you have technical components that help to announce this business outcome, but it's a big shift on the market. That's why in this cover we have decided to communicate around more transformation, more solution than pure hardware or, you know, number of switches and so on. And then I want to ask you what you go to market, Dave mentioned the sales motion. Do you guys market differently by country? Yes. So you have in market resources, not centralized? No, indeed, as I said, it's very fragmented. So each market is different than the other, even in Europe. So no central cash. No, no, no, no, no. It's all locally. Yes, so it's why we are fully channel oriented. So it's why we have different type of, you know, partners, distributors. So it's why Europe is very, EMEA is very complex because if you go in Africa, if you go in Eastern countries. And it's okay to have a glass of wine with a customer at lunch, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We have the same tradition about that. You're right. Everywhere, you know. At France. As long as you have a suit on. No, it's very relationship. Love the European sales motions. I'm getting inside. Now, on that piece, what's your advice to businesses that are coming to Europe? For instance, a lot of companies mid-sized and growing want to be global and they can stick and be in California and be in New York. But now the presence in the global footprint will be, you know, Europe and then Asia-Pacific. So there's a lot of companies moving to Europe. London is experiencing a lot of growth. What's your advice for folks that are coming to Europe to establish a presence? London, Amsterdam, Paris, is there a specific area that you think is a good domicile for folks to land and expand? So as I'm fresh, I would say Paris is the best place to be but I would be more objective. It's definitely a great city. No, but I think the, I think it's... But a lot of people are in Paris. IBM's there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right, right. I see this nice place too. London has a stock exchange. A lot of people confuse. They need to get some money. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think the communication link we have between the cities in Europe is really, you know, very good, between London and Paris is only two hours. You know, it's nothing. Now the point is, I would say the first thing's, there is an ecosystem in place. As we said before, it's different in different countries. So it's why you need to think locally. You can think globally, but you need to be sure that you have an understanding about an assessment of what's happened in Europe and what's worked in Germany. Those have worked in the UK, could be different in France, could be different in Italy. So it's why you need to be very close to the market. And it's why you have to work with a channel. The channel is really key in Europe. And as I said, there are different type of research, different type of self-motion. And I think my advice is also to work with companies like ours, because we are now in the ecosystem. We have to, under different solutions, we try to work with a lot of software companies startup to help to put more solution on a product. And we see more and more startup that wants to be more global, that engage with us and try to repeat the story they did with us in US, in Europe. And I think it's another way to spread, you know, the sales in Europe. So Paris. And obviously, you have to leave me in Paris to start the business. Okay, final question. IoT's been a big part of it. Smart Cities is a big initiative. We see one of the solutions showcases here is citizenship and e-government. But there's a networking component to that. I mean, the cities in Europe are very progressive from having great bikes that could be moved all around France, one of my favorite pieces of Paris is the bikes. Wasn't there when I was there, but an e-government now is a big part of that. What's your take on this? So, maturing, fast or slow? Is it certainly early? But it's amazing. There is a competition. The competition between the cities. You know, Paris was the most visited capital in the world, I think, and obviously in Europe. So now London is very close to even past Paris last year. So there is a big competition. And in this competition, obviously new technology, digitalization is really key. And obviously, all things around wireless and the way to have a better customer experience is key. And we have a battle around stadium or on museum. You know, we are developed solution for the museum in Madrid that was presented this week. So there are a lot of projects to really give more, better experience for customers. And we have also a lot of customers that come from, you know, the companies that they want to develop exhibition, they want to differentiate themselves for their competitors in the other cities. And then they want to develop more solution, more services, and wireless Wi-Fi is really key in this. So many dimensions of vectors, like the pride, competition pride, but also pride for revenue, right? I mean, they want to have services, right? And provide great experience. And you have cities, especially in the Middle East, like Doa, like Dubai, they are in this competition and they have a lot of money. And they are, you know, very in advance on a lot of things. Singapore is a really advanced. Exactly, the same story. So we see a big momentum around this, people want to invest, and there is a competition. Clearly, there is a competition between the cities. Well, they got to get wireless. The Louvre needs more wireless. They're not going to bring any cables. Can you move that statue on a drill a hole through there? Wireless is good for these older cities. Yeah, and I hope that the museum will enter also in this kind of tough competition because it would be a lot of business for us. All right, Elaine Capetier, thank you so much for coming on theCUBE and sharing the data. A lot of insight here on theCUBE, very disruptive. Getting the European perspective, a lot of nuances, but you know what? Europe is growing, super great environment. A lot of competition among the cities, smart cities, a lot of expansion. Thanks for sharing this. We'll be right back with more here, day three of HP Enterprise Discover. We'll be right back after this short break. Yeah, thank you. Have a nice day. Have a good day. Bye.