HP outlines enterprise strategy, touts Compaq merger results

Computerworld - SAN JOSE -- Hewlett-Packard Co. today held up last year's merger with Compaq Computer Corp. as the best example of why its newly unveiled enterprise architecture strategy will work.

"We are our own best proof point," Carly Fiorina, HP's CEO, said today. "We know what it means to demand more of technology, and also have technology deliver more."

At the one-year mark of its merger with Compaq, the company detailed its Adaptive Enterprise strategy, which is open standards-based, with a strong focus on allowing companies to maintain heterogeneous environments and reduce costs through better management.

At today's announcement, Fiorina said companies, whether they are responding to new federal regulations or competitive pressures, need simplified, standardized, odularized and integrated architectures.

A foundation of the strategy is its Darwin Reference Architecture, intended to allow companies to develop adaptive models that are consumption-based, or pay as you go. The company also announced a number of new tools, including new management software that offers automated real-time resource utilization and self-healing capabilities.

Among the HP customers at today's event was Lawrence Linkens, vice president of IT at Con Edison Communications Inc., a New York-based telecommunications provider.

"She's hitting the nail on the head," said Linkens of Fiorina's plan to focus on "adaptive" technologies and solutions that reduce the level of effort, cost and risk associated with enterprise change. "We are doing the same within the context of our business," he said.

But HP also faces challenges from IBM, which has the same vision, said Linkens. "You may call it different things, but it's the same vision, and achieving that is a challenge," he said.

"There are two ways to get at the same solution and I think they are both working toward that end. And competition is good," said Linkens, who believes that HP's focus on the client/server gives it a leg up over IBM.

HP today also finalized a $3 billion services agreement with consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. in Cincinnati. The deal will affect 2,000 P&G employees, who managed the company's IT infrastructure, data center operations, desktop and other services in 48 countries.

In making that decision, Filippo Passerini, P&G's global business services officer, said he has a high-level understanding of HP's enterprise plan, but he added that the decision to outsource was based on the company's 15-year relationship with HP.

"I don't think one can ever bank on one particular new solution for a strategic long-term decision," said Passerini, who nonetheless believes that HP's enterprise strategy will add value to its relationship.

Although HP officials cited a number of customer references, Fiorina focused on the company's merger with Compaq, which she called a mammoth task. Some of the IT infrastructure issues the company had to deal with included some 7,000 applications, more than 200,000 desktops, and a system that moved some 26 million e-mail messages a week.

The company reduced overall cost by 24%, she said.

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