SPIT Watch: HP's Cloud Hire

A cloud-centric appointment, acquisition gossip, and a proposed new entrant for the Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) taxonomy all feature in the latest roundup from the telecom back office.

HP adds to cloud its team
HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) may be making headlines with the appointment of a new CEO and chairman, but it's been adding to headcount elsewhere too. (See HP Names CEO, Chairman.)

As predicted by Light Reading, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)'s former cloud evangelist Joe Weinman has joined the software and systems giant to bolster its cloud developments. (See Weinman Quits AT&T.)

HP tells SPIT Watch that Weinman's role includes developing cloud strategies across the company's Enterprise Business group, including the Communications and Media Solutions (CMS) business unit's "cloud portfolio for communications service providers." (See HP Takes MDM Into the Cloud and AlcaLu, HP Combine on IT.)

HP has had some success in helping carriers develop their cloud offerings and is keen to secure further carrier engagements, so having someone who can provide a large carrier perspective can only help the vendor. (See SFR Gets Cloudy With HP.)

Comverse up for grabs?
We're not done with HP yet... Along with Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX), IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), and Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL), it's believed to be one of the firms approached about a potential acquisition of all or parts of Comverse Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: CMVT), according to The Wall Street Journal.

Comverse Technology is the parent company of major SPIT player Comverse Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSI), which is well respected for its widely deployed business support systems and service creation platforms. (See Comverse Offers Hosted IP Comms and Comverse Touts Smart Billing.)

Network security and analytics specialist Verint Systems Inc. and signaling software firm Ulticom Inc. (Nasdaq: ULCM) are also part of the Comverse Technology family. The parent firm has been struggling to deal with the fallout from its long-running accounting problems, and in August, following a tough first half of the year during which the company leaked cash, it instigated a cost-reduction program and hired Goldman Sachs & Co. to explore "strategic and capital raising alternatives." (See Comverse Settles Backdating Case.)

The move comes at a time when industry giants such as IBM and CSG Systems International Inc. (Nasdaq: CSGS) have been opening their checkbooks to buy additional SPIT capabilities. (See M&A Fires Up the SPIT Sector and CSG to Buy Intec for £237M.)

Sending out an SOS
Irish vendor Openet Telecom Ltd. , which is currently on the sharp end of a legal challenge by Amdocs, has suggested a new technology niche for the SPIT taxonomy -- Subscriber Optimization Software (SOS). (See Amdocs Sues Openet and Openet 'Surprised' by Amdocs Legal Action.)

Openet says the new category "unifies four interrelated markets that have previously been served separately, despite their interdependence on one another: Mediation, Subscriber Data Management (SDM), Policy Management, and Real-Time Charging. The SOS market represents billions of dollars in forecasted growth, as well as a need for integrated solutions servicing all areas of the category." (See Openet Issues an SOS for OSS.)

With a giant like Amdocs on its back, Openet, which has been shortlisted in the Company of the Year (Private) category of the Leading Lights awards, will be hoping it doesn't have to issue a more traditional SOS in the near future. (See Light Reading's 2010 Leading Lights Finalists and Leading Lights Finalists: Private Company of the Year .)

In other news from the SPIT world: