HP today announced Virtual Application Networks, a new cloud functionality that speeds application deployment, simplifies management and ensures network service level agreements (SLAs) in cloud and other dynamic computing models across the HP FlexNetwork architecture. This will ensures quality-of-service levels, simplifies management for cloud computing.

HP has already announced HP Converged Cloud, the industry’s first hybrid delivery approach and portfolio based on a common architecture spanning traditional IT, private, managed and public clouds. Engineered for the enterprise, HP Converged Cloud extends the power of the cloud across infrastructure, applications and information to provide choice, confidence and consistency and all these with through a single common architecture.

HP Converged Cloud brings together industry-leading HP Converged Infrastructure, HP Converged Management and Security, Converged Information and hardened OpenStack™ technology.

“The convergence of cloud computing and mobile connectivity is changing the way infrastructures are built, applications are developed and information is delivered,” said Bill Veghte, chief strategy officer and executive vice president, Software, HP. “HP Converged Cloud enables enterprises to incorporate a blend of public, private and managed cloud services with their existing IT to create a seamless hybrid environment that rapidly adapts to their changing requirements.”

Virtual Application Networks provide a virtualized view of a network – abstracted from the physical equipment – that transforms a rigid physical enterprise network into a programmable, multitenant and application-aware virtual network. Virtual Application Networks use templates to characterize application-delivery requirements and ensure optimal application performance and reliability. This enables IT staff to deploy new cloud applications to users in minutes rather than weeks and ensure SLAs are consistently met by using templates to automate network orchestration.

“In the cloud era, clients need to be able to deploy applications on the fly to any device and any user accessing the network from anywhere with guaranteed quality of service levels,” said Sanjay Jotshi, Director,  HP Networking, HP India. “Today, only HP is positioned to provide clients with a completely virtualized network from the data center to the end user, managed by a single platform that is capable of deploying new applications within minutes.”

Unique across HP Converged Infrastructure, Virtual Application Networks tap into the intelligence found directly in server, storage and network hardware to automate provisioning and configuration tasks, while optimizing performance. Virtual Application Networks actively leverage elements of Software Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, including OpenFlow, which is available on multiple HP Networking switch families that were pioneered by HP with key industry partners.

“Enterprise applications and services are increasingly being delivered from the cloud, and the network plays a critical role. The consumption of media-rich content, explosion of virtualized applications, and rapid consumerization of IT have increased the demands on enterprise networks,” said Rohit Mehra, director, Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, IDC. “Legacy networks are typically static, indifferent to applications and require manual management, often resulting in poor service delivery and an inability to adapt to rapidly changing business needs, thereby limiting the potential of the cloud. HP’s Virtual Application Network strategy is a good example of a path forward for enterprises seeking to embrace the cloud computing paradigm.”