Since Monday afternoon I’ve been in Las Vegas, Nev., attending the 2008 HP Technology Forum and Expo — enjoying the air conditioned oasis in the 100+ degree desert. The event is different than any I have attended, with it’s broad 7,000+ attendee base that spans the four “S’s” of HP (servers, storage, software, and services). Clearly the company is focused on sharing their new technologies through the Tech Showcase and in the workshops and breakout sessions. But the company is also showing both loyal and potential customers a good time.

The opening session on Tuesday morning was a prime example. The audience entered the Keynote to the beat of a live band playing, and then a troupe of professional hip-hop dancers arrived and performed with so much enthusiasm that even keynote speaker Executive Vice President and CIO of HP commented that it was a hard level of energy to follow.

But follow it he did, sharing the impressive conversion of HP’s data center infrastructure from 85 data centers in 29 countries to six consolidated, state-of-the-art data centers in three continental US locations. Following Mott, Executive Vice President of HP Technology Solutions Group, Ann Livermore discussed how the four S’s can help IT leaders meet the business challenges of the future. She also talked about how the company’s acquisition of EDS (in the works) will bolster the company’s service offerings. Livermore was “interrupted” in her presentation by HP CEO Mark Hurd, who insisted on personally explaining the the answer to the question “Why EDS?”

• Increase vertical market coverage — close to double
• Vertical solutions that complement HPs offerings
• The services business will aligns capabilities with product portfolio

Paul Otellini, CEO and president of Intel, also made an appearance, sharing the connection between Intel and HP and the longevity of their Itanium line of processors.

HP user groups consolidate
Taking advantage of the unique in-person forum for HP users, the independent HP user community, Connect made its debut at the conference’s Monday night opening reception. With the voted consolidation of Encompass, HP Interex EMEA and ITUG, the user group launched a social networking site that all registrants to the conference were automatically directed to. On the site, users can connect by special interest group (SIG) in 15 areas including a storage group, that according to this article from our friends at SearchStorage.com has a lot to say to the company. And that’s the point: The group literally “connects” HP users to the company.

Connect president Nina Buik, senior vice president of MindIQ in Atlanta, shared with me that Mark Hurd is very pleased with the group’s transformation. And he should be, Connect has launched a worldwide user survey — with 50,000 members the data should be significantly helpful to HP (as in, you can’t buy business intelligence that good). But HP won’t be the only beneficiary of the group, really, the end users stand to gain the most for their businesses. By using the social networking and Wiki sites through the Connect hub, users can share their problems and solutions and gain their own business intelligence for their IT operations and influence innovation at HP.

Thursday will be the final day of the event, and it will close with more fanfare than it opened with: a live concert featuring Matchbox 20… (if only I could remember just one of their hits…)