HP Helps Businesses Reduce Printing Complexity and Cost with Expanded Total Print Management Portfolio

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 9, 2005, HP today introduced an expanded Total Print Management portfolio - the company’s integrated suite of devices, management software and services designed to help businesses streamline their printing and imaging resources and document output, reduce costs and manage their printing environments more efficiently.

The expansion includes enhancements to the industry’s leading web-based print management solution, HP Web Jetadmin, as well as updates to HP Output Management solutions, which help ensure reliable document delivery.

In addition, the company unveiled an industry first: the HP Universal Print Driver Series for Windows®, which eases deployment of new HP print drivers for IT managers.

HP also introduced a new series of digital projectors, along with the company’s first projector management tool to make networking, monitoring and configuring projectors easy.

Announced at the company’s annual ImagePrint customer event, the expanded portfolio builds on HP’s printing and imaging expertise to enhance customer processes and information workflow and to accelerate the company’s global leadership in business imaging and printing, a market HP forecasts will reach $150 billion by 2009.(1)

“Even in the digital age, businesses typically spend up to 5 percent of revenues on printing, copying, faxing and scanning,” said George Mulhern, senior vice president, LaserJet Business, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “HP’s Total Print Management solutions help customers intelligently maximize cost savings and productivity, while minimizing IT department headaches.”

HP TPM solutions streamline printing, reduce costs and increase productivity

The HP Total Print Management portfolio offers companies a range of tools and resources to help them analyze, right-size and manage their imaging and printing fleet and output.

“The HP Total Print Management portfolio helped our customer, a leading natural gas producer, realize a $2 million annual savings in hard costs alone,” said Michael Traynor, president, ComPrint Solutions, an HP partner. “This savings is derived from consolidating printers into newer MFP devices, redeploying existing equipment into more appropriate areas and reducing operational costs. And with HP Web Jetadmin, the HP devices are far easier to manage than anything we’ve seen on the market today.”

HP Web Jetadmin version 8.0 is the only print management software application that offers robust management of fleets containing both HP and non-HP devices. The easy-to-use tool provides remote deployment, maintenance, supplies replenishment and reporting. Key updates include:

* User- and application-level reporting for more in-depth asset utilization analysis (via Report Generation Plug-in 3.0);


* Manage select HP Color LaserJet printers to set color controls by user, application or schedule;


* Predictive and consolidated reporting that enables just-in-time arrival and volume pricing of supplies.(2) Also, HP Web Jetadmin 8.0 includes a link to HP SureSupply for assisted reordering through a choice of vendors or directly from HP (via Report Generation Plug-In 3.0);


* PC-connected printer inventory data enables IT administrators to conduct better management and support. Additional real-time information such as status, supplies level and usage data for select HP printers is accessible through the HP Device Communication Service (via HP Web Jetadmin PC Printer Discovery Plug-in 2.0);


* A simplified interface to pre-define the most common tasks, and context-specific links to the free HP Instant Support online service;


* Remote configuration and monitoring of HP digital projectors.


HP Universal Print Driver for Windows helps solve the age-old issue of driver management for IT managers by giving businesses the option of deploying a single print driver for the entire print environment. The tool provides users with one driver for the HP general office printers in their fleet - virtually all HP PCL 5 and Postscript general office color, as well as black-and-white laser printers, manufactured since 1997. In addition, the driver automatically supports new HP LaserJet printers and multifunction printers, eliminating the need to deploy new drivers when equipment is upgraded or when the printing environment expands.

The enhanced HP Output Distributor 3.5 helps companies improve their business operations while becoming more agile by improving output management capabilities. The application delivers reports in preferred formats through automatic bursting and bundling of content, which is ideal for high-end enterprises with a need for high reliability of document delivery in order to complete business processes.

The updated HP Output Server allows customers to incorporate more features from the devices it manages. In addition, HP Output Server improves integration features with SAP systems and provides higher performance and reliability in SAP fax support as well as advanced finishing features on printers.

For all HP business printers with internal (EIO) slots, the new HP Jetdirect 635n internal print server delivers secure network printing by enabling printer sharing on a Gigabit or Fast Ethernet network using the new IPv6 or IPv4 protocols. Priced starting at $429.(3)

Large and small businesses: Achieving success with HP TPM

Since its introduction, the HP TPM portfolio has delivered significant cost-savings to thousands of businesses worldwide - in some cases up to 30 percent. In addition, customers implementing HP TPM to help optimize and manage their printer fleets tell HP they have realized significant enhancements to organizational efficiency.

For example, Rand McNally & Company, provider of mapping, routing and trip-planning tools for the consumer, business, education and commercial transportation markets, has significantly reduced printer and copier expenditures as a result of the company’s implementation of the HP TPM solution. By adopting this new ownership model, Rand McNally consolidated multiple leases into one pay-per-page lease - improving service levels across the entire organization at a greatly reduced price.

Additionally, thousands of HP partners are helping businesses of all sizes implement HP TPM. Nearly 3,000 representatives from more than 1,600 HP channel partner organizations around the world have received in-depth training on HP TPM and successfully implement TPM for their customers.

To better help partners analyze an organization’s printer fleet, HP introduced an enhanced version of the HP Imaging and Printing Assessment tool. The tool simplifies the assessment process of print environments for partners and helps them make more precise recommendations for fleet alterations.

Enhancements include simplified data entry and in-depth contract analysis for business environments that use copier, fax and MFP solutions. The tool also supports multiple assessors working on a single engagement, allowing teams to work together efficiently across geographical areas.

Laser’s Resource, an HP partner located in Grand Rapids, Mich., has seen tremendous success since first offering the HP Total Print Management portfolio two years ago. Nearly one third of the company’s annual revenue is now driven by HP TPM.

“We have received significant value from HP’s platform and partner training models focused on sales force convergence and TPM,” said Tom Senecal, president, Laser’s Resource. “This continued education provides us a competitive advantage over other providers, as we are able to take this knowledge and deliver a unique, holistic printing strategy to customers.”

Grand Rapids Community College recently looked to Laser’s Resource to provide an imaging and printing strategy that would help the college contain costs and regain control of its printing processes.

Using the HP TPM platform, Laser’s Resource identified the college’s devices and associated costs, delivered a baseline report of its complete imaging and printing infrastructure and, as a result, implemented a balanced deployment strategy. In the end, the HP TPM solution allowed the college to reduce the overall number of devices by 30 percent and lower overall hard costs by 18 percent.

ComPrint Solutions, an HP partner located in Calgary, Alberta, found that the HP TPM platform enables the company to better compete against other solution providers. Before ComPrint Solutions began offering HP TPM, the company’s revenues were driven by printer-only sales. However, three years after entering the managed print services market, ComPrint Solutions receives 90 percent of its annual revenues from HP TPM services and 10 percent from device-only sales.

A leading natural gas producer called on ComPrint Solutions to provide an imaging and printing strategy for its assortment of several thousand printers, fax machines and copiers. After a comprehensive analysis of the company’s printing processes, devices and costs, ComPrint Solutions replaced single function printers, copiers and fax machines with 300 HP LaserJet 9000mfp multifunction printers. Using HP Web Jetadmin, ComPrint Solutions monitors the customer’s printing supplies - including ink, toner and paper - and replaces them as necessary on a weekly basis.

While results will vary from customer to customer and reseller to reseller, HP’s TPM Portfolio of devices, software and services helps customers realize returns on their printing and imaging investment and helps resellers boost sales.

High-quality HP digital projection for enhanced business presentations

For the first time, HP has extended its management software capabilities to its business line of digital projectors, making it possible to simplify tasks, increase security and upgrade firmware and software more efficiently.

The new HP xp7000 digital projector series provides a cost-saving, high-image-quality solution for business and education professionals. When the devices are combined with the optional HP Jetdirect pn1050 Network Projector Manager and the separately available Web Jetadmin 8.0 software, IT professionals can manage a fleet of projectors from a single, remote location, making it more efficient to increase security and upgrade firmware and software.

The HP xp7000 series relies on DLP technology for consistent on-screen quality. With a long-lasting bright bulb, razor-sharp contrast ratio and multiple connectivity inputs, the projectors make it easy to dazzle large audiences. The projector series also offers a one or three-year limited warranty and HP’s quality service and support. Prices for the xp7000 series start at $1,999.(3)

The HP Jetdirect pn1050 Network Projector Manager simplifies projector networking, monitoring and configuration. It features password protection, asset security and email alerts whenever a projector is disconnected from the manager. It is additionally compatible with the HP vp6300 digital projector series. Prices for the HP Jetdirect pn1050 start at $299.(3)

More information on HP Total Print Management is available at http://www.hp.com/go/tpm.

Information on sales and technical training classes for channel partners and customers in North America is available at http://www.hptraining.net.

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 July 31, 2005, HP revenue totaled $85.2 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) According to HP estimates, includes imaging and printing hardware, supplies and services for commercial customers.

(2) Volume pricing available through participating vendors.

(3) Estimated U.S. street price. Actual price may vary.

Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they ever materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to 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 the expected development, performance or rankings of products or services; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the development, performance and market acceptance of products and services and other risks that are described from time to time in HP’s Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2005, and other reports filed after HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2004. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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