HPE talked about its work on the IoT front.
The IoT focus looked in particular at edge devices and edge computing, GE was held up as the perfect example of a business that is pioneering change by creating an industrial IoT platform. The GE example has been held up by so many companies at various conferences that it has almost become the Uber of digital disruption.
As HPE pushes this messaging it is quick to remind attendees that partnerships are important, so when it was announcing the converged system for IoT deployments it made a point of talking about the ecosystem it is creating.
Antonio Neri, EVP, GM, Technology Services, HPE said: "With HPE IoT solutions we are redefining IoT at the edge."
While the keynote occasionally went off on tangents from digital transformation, it was never far from mind.
Whitman said: "Wherever you are on your digital transformation journey you need a strategic partner on your way," clearly pointing to HPE being that strategic partner.
The transformation messaging wasn’t left to Whitman alone to talk about and technology isn’t the only component of this – strategy is also important.
Whitman left Luke Williams, author of Disrupt, to talk about the various steps to transformation. Williams gave what could mostly accurately be described as a self-help session in the style of a sermon.
While some of what he said held some value: "Every organisation needs a portfolio of unconventional strategy options," the message is essentially the same as it has been for years.
The message is in essence that businesses need to be proactive in change, have a strategy and be aware of market disruptors from all angles, the threat is that if businesses don’t do this then they will end up like Kodak and Blockbuster.
This doesn’t mean that businesses should embrace change just because it is new and innovative, no, it has to deliver value.
These are valuable points but they aren’t anything particularly new.
The Machine, HPE’s research project to rethink computing as we know it was again spoken about, but it still remains something of a mystery, certainly more of a concept than something that is tangible and available now.
The problem is that even if the promo videos describe it as being a potential "miracle" there is little evidence to suggest it is more than a pipe dream at the moment.
The message is to stay tuned because more is to come from HPE.
