HP will link its hardware with Cast Iron's software to help smaller businesses integrate cloud apps with their internal systems HP and cloud application integrator Cast Iron Systems have ironed out a partnership linking Cast Iron software and HP hardware to help small and midsize businesses integrate cloud applications with their internally deployed systems.To be offered through channel partners, the Cast Iron Virtual Appliance on HP Servers platform leverages HP’s ProLiant or blade servers as a conduit for system integration.[ Confused by cloud computing hype? Learn more about what cloud computing really means | Find out more on cloud computing’s risks and get tips on how to buy cloud computing services | Follow the cloud with InfoWorld’s Cloud Computing blog ] “It’s a meet-in-the-channel solution whereby the channel partner is selling a server to the customer and is also selling software to the customer to provide this integrated solution to customers to be able to integrate cloud applications with their on-premise applications or their existing infrastructure,” said Duncan Campbell, HP vice president of Adaptive Infrastructure & Small and Midmarket Business.Small businesses, Campbell said, are using the cloud to make it easier to do business. “The value proposition that HP found so compelling with Cast Iron is they can make this integration fast and simple,” he said.A customer, for example, might use a Salesforce.com cloud application along with a Microsoft Dynamics application, said Cast Iron’s Chandar Pattabhiram, vice president of product marketing. [The customer] could use the Cast Iron integration that runs on HP servers to connect in this case Salesforce.com with that Microsoft Dynamics applications well as [with] other cloud-based applications,” Pattabhiram said. Cast Iron charges $500 per endpoint per month for each application involved; ProLiant servers start in price at $2,000. IaaS