According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Hewlett-Packard has announced a new wave of computer rack cabinets for modern businesses in need of more powerful computing solutions. HP's ProLiant Gen9 server rack series is designed with the goal of reducing computing costs for commercial users; increasing the speed with which high end IT services can be delivered; and enabling businesses to more readily grow in an increasingly digital age of commerce.


The Gen9 series is considered a spiritual successor to the x86 architecture series of rack computers the company pioneered in 1989. By tripling the computing power and efficiency over standard rack server cabinets on the market and shortening and simplifying the setup process, HP, ostensibly, is attempting to make itself a more viable company that is once again known for innovation, something the firm has really struggled with over the last few years.


Hewlett-Packard Continues to Struggle with Redefinition
As Computer World reported in May 2013, Hewlett-Packard's continued lack of innovation and an over-reliance on PC sales -- in a time when PCs were increasingly giving ground to mobile devices -- finally started to take their toll on the company's overall performance. In Q1 2013, HP watched its profits drop by 32% for the second consecutive quarter.


The news of HP's sudden change in fortune wasn't exactly met with surprise. The firm had long before developed a reputation of being one step behind competitors. Even one year later,Forbes wrote that the company's backward-looking approach to doing business -- remembering all too fondly when it was the big computing company -- continued to kill the company.


With the release of the ProLiant Gen9 series of rack server cabinets, HP may finally be signaling that there is a future beyond its deceased PC manufacturing aspirations. The computer server industry is up and coming, with $14 billion in revenue generated annually. If successful, the Gen9 series could set HP up for a future based in server rack cabinets, peripherals, and other more modernly useful tech.


Do you think HP's ProLiant Gen9 server series tailored for the commercial power user will help the floundering company find some sense of its formal self? Tell us why or why not in the comments below.