Wave Issue 0512 3/25/05 Article 2-01

***HP Makes Server Technology Easier to Buy and Own for Small and
Mid-Size Businesses

PALO ALTO, Calif.
March 21, 2005

HP has announced an expansion of its Smart Office initiative for
small and mid-size business customers (SMBs) that provides
customers and channel partners with education, services,
marketing tools and expert guidance to explain in specific terms
how server technology can help solve business problems and
simplify IT purchasing decisions.

The new Smart Office program, called HP ProLiant Business
Advantage, collapses the world of industry-standard server
solutions into three easy-to-understand categories:

-- Blades for Business -- Helps mid-size business
customers operate more efficiently, grow flexibly and
better control costs by deploying blades to simplify
multi-server environments.

-- Rack Advantage -- For SMBs with IT support, the HP
ProLiant family of solutions includes a comprehensive
portfolio of rack servers, storage and management
software to simplify the setup and management of their
IT environments to help reduce costs and improve
employee productivity.

-- Simple Affordable Computing -- HP helps small business
owners who may not have IT support understand the
benefits of adding a first server to their business or
of upgrading existing servers to help improve
information organization and reduce risk of data loss.

Blades for Business: The Benefits of HP BladeSystem Solutions for
Mid-Size Firms

With nearly half of all HP BladeSystem solutions being sold to
mid-size businesses, HP is expanding its reach to help more SMBs
take advantage of the benefits this technology can bring to their
businesses with the launch of the Blades for Business component
of the ProLiant Business Advantage program on May 2.

According to a recent Gartner user survey in North America,
nearly 20 percent of small and low-end mid-size businesses cited
plans to purchase a server blade, while 35 percent of upper-end
mid-size businesses cited plans to purchase a blade server.

Unlike individual rack-mount components, HP BladeSystem solutions
are indeed systems -- integrating servers, storage, networking
equipment, power and management software. Affordable and
scalable, HP BladeSystem solutions are ideally suited for
companies looking to grow their infrastructure incrementally,
consolidate to a standardized platform or build a new business
with limited resources. They help reduce management costs,
cabling costs and power consumption to provide a lower total cost
of ownership than traditional rack-mount servers, and thus a
better return on IT investment.

Components of the Blades for Business program, which extend
beyond the existing HP BladeSystem solutions offerings, will
include:

-- A new entry-level HP BladeSystem solution that is easy
to purchase, install and manage. This solution
provides the essential components to help a business
get a jumpstart on a first HP BladeSystem
implementation: an HP BladeSystem enclosure, a new 1U
power supply, management software and an HP ProLiant
server blade. The HP BladeSystem solution allows SMBs
to leverage previous IT investments by fitting into
the same rack as existing servers, storage and
networking devices. It also provides affordable
scalability with the simple addition of new server
blades and enclosures as the company's needs grow.

-- Information and resources on the HP Small Business
website to make it easy for customers to understand
and buy HP BladeSystem solutions.

-- Systemic, scalable HP Services consulting, integration
and services packages to help small businesses and
channel partners develop blade implementations
tailored to meet customers' needs and help get their
new or expanded IT infrastructure up and running
quickly.

-- Training, marketing tools and incentives to help
channel partners better sell and service HP
BladeSystem solutions for their SMB customers.

-- Roadshows bringing HP BladeSystem solutions to
customers and channel partners in countries around the
world for hands-on demonstrations of how blade server
technology can help SMBs solve business problems.

HP plans to expand the Rack Advantage and Simple Affordable
Computing components later this year, providing additional
information, training, marketing tools and incentives to help HP
channel partners better serve their SMB customers.

More information on the Blades for Business program is available
at the company’s web site, with details on specific program
components expected to be available in the next few months.

www.hp.com/sbso/serverstorage/index.html