Hewlett-Packard held its 3Q FY2007 Server Quarterly Business Update for IT Analysts on 9/6 to provide the “story behind the numbers” and answer analysts’ irritating questions.  We were assured that HP is the most efficient supplier of storage and servers in the industry, and they look forward strong revenue growth, and they are driving industry innovation, and … well, you know…

We had indeed noted that HP’s Business Critical Systems revenue was down 3% from 3Q06. Integrity revenue, however, which accounts for 67% of BCS, was up 71% during that period. Another strong showing came from blade revenue – an industry-leading increase of 81% Y/Y and part of the 16% gain notched by HP’s Industry Standard Servers. All in all, not a bad quarter on the hardware side….