HP and Microsoft have integrated the former’s cloud infrastructure hardware and software with the latter’s software products. Customers buying HP’s cloud and virtualization solutions now have the choice of having them pre-loaded and integrated with Microsoft’s Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1.

The idea behind the two companies’ Joint Private Cloud initiative is to have yet another way to be a one-stop cloud-infrastructure shop for customers. Clients can get a single point of contact for HP-Microsoft solutions, from purchase and deployment to maintenance and support.

Microsoft launched Windows Server 2012 earlier this week, and many major original equipment manufacturers, such as Dell, Fujitsu and HP, have announced hardware products that support its new operating system for servers.

Stephen DeWitt, senior VP of HP’s Enterprise Group, said customers were looking for simplified approaches to transitioning to private clouds. “Through this relationship with Microsoft, we’re providing customers with a trusted, single-source experience to provide them an easy on-ramp to cloud.”

The announcement expands HP’s Converged Cloud family of offerings. It includes integration of HP CloudSystem and Microsoft products to quickly turn virtualized resource into private and hybrid cloud environments.

CloudSystem optimized for Microsoft also provides pre-integrated solutiosn that include HP’s Converged Infrastructure products, its cloud-management software and Windows Server 2012 and System Center.

Integration of HP’s server-management platform Insight Management with System Center means an administrator does not have to switch between multiple consoles, deploying, monitoring and updating HP infrastructure through System Center.

The integration also speeds up the creation of storage volumes and migration of storage using HP 3Par and Windows Server 2012 offload data transfer.

IT departments using the integrated solution can move virtual machines between remote sites without disruption to their end users.