Helvetia Patria Doubles Return on Investment with HP Service-oriented Architecture

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 11, 2006, HP customer Helvetia Patria, a leading European insurance company based in Switzerland, has realized significant cost savings, increased profitability and business agility from an HP service-oriented architecture (SOA).

According to an independent study by Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC, HP helped the company achieve a 201 percent return on investment(1) over a six-year period with its SOA offering. SOA is an approach for managing computing environments that uses loosely coupled, reusable and standards-based services to address changing business needs.

Helvetia Patria also reduced e-business IT operational costs by 59 percent(1) while it experienced an internal rate of return of 26 percent(2). Additionally, the company was able to decrease the amount of time to introduce new products and services as it looks to expand its market share by opening new distribution channels across Europe.

“In the past, we were spending a significant amount of time and investment maintaining multiple IT environments that created more challenges than opportunities for us,” said Didier Beck, head of the eBusiness Center, Helvetia Patria Group. “HP is a true partner who worked with us every step of the way to create a solution that could speed our entry into new sales channels and market segments.”

Consolidated e-business platform built on SOA

Helvetia Patria turned to HP to implement a centralized Internet-based platform for the insurance industry that links information among its employees, partners and customers across Europe.

Using HP Nimius software and BEA WebLogic Server, HP built the SOA platform on an industry-standard, open architecture with integrated user management and multi-linguistic capabilities.

Collaborating with HP Services experts, Helvetia Patria consolidated 15 different types of services and platforms – from Linux to IBM CICS OS/390 to .NET programs – and designed front-end web services, technical infrastructure, processes and governance components.

The resulting eBusiness Center helped Helvetia Patria by substantially decreasing time to market for new products and helping to expand distribution channels. Additionally, SOA opened new opportunities to expand partnerships (for example, with brokers and agents) and enter different segments of the insurance market.
The HP SOA also has helped the company lower business transaction costs by improving efficiencies through repeatable processes and consistent data on clients, policies, claims, benefits and accounting.

“Helvetia Patria is an excellent example of a company using an SOA approach to develop new business capabilities, at lower costs, while capitalizing on its need to respond to business change,” said Deborah L. Nelson, vice president, Worldwide Marketing and Alliances, HP. “HP helped to consolidate the company’s IT infrastructure onto a single platform, eliminate technology and regional operating silos, and reduce overhead costs while capturing new and greater revenue streams.”

HP’s expertise in SOAs spans several years and encompasses partner offerings, world-class server and storage products, and leading management software, including HP OpenView SOA Manager. In addition, HP Services has several thousand professionals worldwide who are able to implement and deploy SOA and open source technology.
The Helvetia Patria study was issued by Thoughtware Worldwide, a San Francisco-based firm specializing in investment decisions and value management. The complete customer case study is available at www.thoughtwareworldwide.com/downloads/hpv_f.pdf.
Additional information about HP SOA and enterprise offerings for the financial services and insurance industries is available at www.hp.com/go/soa and www.hp.com/go/fsi.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2006, HP revenue totaled $87.9 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) Thoughtware Worldwide customer case study on Helvetia Patria, “Quantifying the Value of the eBusiness Center: HP Cost Savings Solutions for the Insurance Industry,” July 8, 2005.

(2) Thoughtware Worldwide customer case study Helvetia Patria, “Helvetia Patria turns to HP to create industry leading e-Insurance Solutions – realizes 201% ROI,” January 2006.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to anticipated operational and financial results; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the achievement of expected results and other risks that are described from time to time in HP’s Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the risks described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, 2006, and other reports filed after HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2005. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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