Hello world..! Happy to be back in busy New York City again for the HP Global Launch this week. I attended back in 2013 which was my first time in New York City. Today was equally exciting to be back in New York as well as the opportunity to bring you all the latest from the launch once again from the HP Execs and all the other HP Experts like Product Managers as well as many other various employees with various positions. Basically all the top in their field with HP were present both speaking onstage as well as the many who help bring this event to frution behind the scenes. Basically there’s no other place on the planet that your going to get the latest than being right here front and center(as I was)to all the action.
First off the always entertaining VP Worldwide Product Management Jeff Wood of HP kicked off the event. He briefly went over the very new HP split which I’m not going to get into since there is a lot of info on that around the web. What I will be bringing you is the highlights of new products being launched today and the team behind it and some of the customers doing out of this world tasks with theirs products. Let’s just say HP Inc looks like it has as bright a future as ever..!
Jeff after talking about the split goes into HP’s long journey of 70 plus years in the business. Over 30 years of building some of the best Workstations like the now branded Z series. HP…Ushering in a new era of Computers. Today was no exeption. Fifty-Seven Billion, Fortune 100 Company…’We are the Market Leaders’! Stating in a slide they are #1 in Commercial PCs, #1 in Inkjet, #1 in Laserjet, #1 in Graphics, and only 2nd in Consumer PCs which you all know is a very competitive market. So they are the biggest, best and nearly number 1 in all markets they are in. He goes on to say…We Have Momentum..! They are leading a Global Brand, with inspired Marketing, World Class Partners, and most importantly Powerful Innovation.
Once Jeff leaves the stage we are greeted by Jim Zafarana VP GM and Global Head. First major slide reads…’Keep Reinventing’…The Workstation. The fact that they have been in the Workstation business for over 30 years should tell you that they are committed to the brand but also it’s innovation.
I myself coming from years of Apple products and running all Macs religiously without question was really surprised before really getting the opportunity to meet the behind the products and how much effort they put into actually listening to their customers needs. It’s no wonder HP has been at the top of their game for so long and continue to go strong. I myself was overly impressed by the innovation and design and I was a MacPro user which is Apples top of the line tower and also still run a MacBook Pro I’m typing this on(note after today…wow it’s hard to see why…more on that later when we get to the refresh of the ZBooks)!
Jim tells us about HP Z Workstation Customers…and from user feedback and needs they basically take it all in and…Reinvent Everything. I believe it…I’ve had the pleasure to sit in on meetings where I as a customer can provide feedback on how I use the hardware and what I like or don’t with some of the people who actually design and build these amazing Z Products. I was surprised to learn how closely they actually pay attention and listen to feedback on their products. Just today I was upstairs where they have all the latest hardware on display. I was able to continue to give feedback…and they do listen. I’m getting cards and they are saying…cool…email me…I want to hear more. I believe that’s why they are in the position they are in..!
Speaking about customers there were several who came on stage to also talk about how they use the Z line of products. The first was Stephen Hunter. He has a pretty out of this world job. He works for NASA. I was pretty impressed to hear how they use the HP Mobiles in their mission critical work. In fact he stated how critical it is to have a rock solid, reliable, performing computers stating…if these fail…lives are at state.
That’s a pretty good indication that HP does provide a very solid product…so much so that NASA relies on HP for all their critical computing. Another thing that was interesting is the special power requirements they need for their mission critical work. He said he’s worked with engineering to get the exact spec they require. So HP definitely is able to provide specific needs. I believe he said they run around 200 mobiles in their work.
BIO: Stephen D. Hunter
Manager, Computer Resources & C&DH Architecture OD/ISS Avionics & Software Office International Space Station (ISS) Program Johnson Space Center (JSC)I joined the NASA in 1992 starting as flight software developer within the Orbiter Project Office in the Space Shuttle Program. In 1993, I transferred to the International Space Station (ISS) Program working the development, integration and deployment of critical software and hardware applications, systems and networks to support daily ISS operations and management. In 1996, I was selected as the Command & Data Handling System Manager responsible for the development and integration of the International Space Station (ISS) Flight Software, Avionics computer systems and architecture as well as the on-orbit data communication networks (i.e. 1553, Ethernet & Fiber). In 2000, I transitioned from NASA to Lockheed Martin Information Technology (LMIT) as the Director of Engineering & Technical Services directly responsible for the design, implementation and operational management of products and services related to IT Outsourcing of PC Desktops, Telecommunications and Network Services for government, commercial and local outsourcing clients. In 2002, I returned to NASA to serve a dual role as the ISS Robotics Software and Integration Manager and Command & Data Handling System Manager working the development and integration of robotics software for the Canadian Robotics ARM-2 and ISS Avionics systems. Since 2004, I have served as the ISS Computer Resources Manager with responsibility for the integration of all on-orbit computer systems, avionics architecture, on-orbit networks, software development related to the Station Support Computer as well new technology infusion. These projects include Internet-to-Space, Integrated Station LAN and Edge Routers, Digital Camera Upgrades for IVA and EVA, Next Generation Laptops and Sidekick (aka Microsoft HoloLens). In this role, I have led and managed numerous technology development, expansion projects and upgrades of the ISS avionics, computer systems and onboard networks to provide enhanced services and capabilities to the ISS vehicle systems, payloads and onboard crewmembers. The Computer Resources System continues to lead the transition of the ISS program from traditional aerospace manufacturing to Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) equipment, where possible, to reduce the cost of access to space through the use standard industry interfaces for not only NASA, but our International Partners and Payload developers.
The next customer they had come to the stage was Sam Lanier of FireWhat which is an Emergency Management Geographic Information System(GIS). Also after the presentation I sat down with Sam to learn more about his business and how they utilize a whole line of Z products like ZWorkstation, ZBooks, HP Plotters and more. Utilizing the HP Technology they are able to map assets in and out of the field with their primary focus Wild and Fire.
What’s so amazing is how his company called FireWhat is helping Fire Fighters go into fires with the help of technology to better fight them. They can now utilize technology to actually share the information they need to fight fires in the moment and also archive on a huge HP server consisting of around 48TB of storage opposed to all local mobiles they use to use in the past(in fact they use to run off the shelf HP Envy’s but he mentioned some actually quit because of the extreme conditons-but with the new ZBooks they’ve had 0 down time)! Now they don’t have to rely on filing data that’s not very accessable nor shareable. They also can collect a ton more data because they are not having to keep it all local on the ZBooks. He said this is really changing the way Fire Fighters are able to tackle the fires and improve the way they do their jobs. What’s so cool is that Sam was actually a Fire Fighter himself. He said he started out as a Boy Scout which exposed him to it originally. He also has family working in the field so it’s really a passion. On top of it all he’s been able to grow the business very rapidly with the parntership his company has built with HP the technology is helping him increase capabilities and they expanded to a whole fleet of mobile trailers which houses all the ZWorkstations. I believe he said the multi functional mobile office has a total of 8 internal workstations and when they are really running a large crew typically the government or whoever the client is will utilize the whole trailor and they will spill outside into additional stations. I was very impressed to learn how much HP has helped them grow. I really look forward to talking with Sam more. They have offices in both norther california and also in Bend Oregon which right up in my
To learn more about FireWhat and how they are helping the World please visit their website below for more additional info or to get in contact with Sam or anyone on his team.
Sam Lanier
CEO, Co-Founder, & President FireWhat Inc.
In June of 2014, Sam stepped away from his passion as a career firefighter, and into the full time role of CEO of FireWhat. Sam had filled this role for 3 years prior during the company’s bootstrapped periods, with a passion to reinvent emergency services for the better. Sam started his fire service career at the age of 15 with Hammond Ranch Fire Company and went on to work for CalFire as a fire captain for 15 years. He spent two years working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a Federal Grant Administrator and National Fire Program Specialist II where he administered a $41 million dollar grant awarded to 2,100 fire departments in the western United States. Recognizing the lack of communication and technological capability among fire departments and other resources for incident response, Sam brought these issues to the forefront in US Congressional Fire Act hearings.
Sam has taught firefighting and emergency management classes throughout his career to both private and public institutions. He is committed to excellence and innovation and sharing his knowledge with fellow trainers. Sam is a graduate of Fire Science and has expert study in Photography and Graphic Design from California State University, Chico, CalState Long Beach, and College of the Siskiyous. He is a three time “Firefighter of the Year” and 2013 National Ski Patrol “Purple Merit Star” award recipient. Sam’s photography and graphic design have been published in regional and national publications as part of his international missionary work. His passion is to one day map the earth and photograph all its beauties to aide the end of world disparities.
One of the first really amazing refreshes is the line of ZBooks, They are all new. They offer the 15u, ZBook Studio, 15 and yes still the flagship 17″ which Apple abandoned. The biggest thing is actually the smallest…they are really thin…yet really really powerful..!
Also coming to the stage was Josh Peterson giving us all the deets on their amazing new thinner and very much welcome addition of ZBooks, Server Grade Hardware to Go, as well as the whole Z Family of Products..!
To me what’s so unique is all the power HP has managed to squeeze into the extremely thin form factor. So Apple is not the only one around with attraction and thin mobiles…the big difference is the spec, and all the tech behind it. I’m going to leave you with images cause a picture is worth a thousand words…right…! 🙂
Lastly to wrap up the launch was Paul Mazurkiewicz PHD covering the Quality Reliability in Workstations that HP brings to life everyday with their stringent commitment to the upmost quality on the Planet. Paul gives us all the deets on how they design their products the way they do. It was a very impressive presentation and again I feel it would only do it justice to share in images. Please look over all the amazing design engineering they put into their HP Family of Products..!
As you can see HP has a whole ZFamily of Products for all levels of Production from small companies to large ones like NASA. For more information please visit hp.com
