"HP and Dell are pretty commoditized in storage. They are both looking at shrinking revenues from services," said Corum Group Ltd. banker Nat Burgess. "What's your ticket to growth? When you're a $50 billion revenue company, it gets harder to find that." ...
Burgess said there are logical targets. Business management software and e-commerce group NetSuite Inc. (N) said Hewlett-Packard would distribute its software. With a $7 billion valuation, Burgess noted, NetSuite could be "within reach."
ServiceNow Inc. (NOW), which automates IT, human resources, facilities management and other processes, would "update" assets Hewlett-Packard gained in the $4.5 billion purchase of IT management group Mercury Interactive Corp. in 2006, Burgess added.
Private data management company Cloudera Inc. could boost HP's cloud analytics offerings, Burgess said, and give the company a "wedge" into new business.