HP Fuels Growth, Innovation for Small and Midsize Businesses

HP commits additional funding to expand $20 million entrepreneur program

PALO ALTO, Calif., HP today announced new solutions, advanced technology and an expanded entrepreneur program to enable small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to drive growth, improve employee productivity and protect assets.

Representing an estimated $234 billion in total addressable market,(1) SMBs are faced with daily challenges that include controlling costs, managing employee productivity and gaining access to credit. HP is committed to delivering solutions, financing and programs that allow clients to realign resources toward growth and innovation.

HP also has added 40 new training centers to its global program, HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE), which empowers microenterprises and SMBs to create new revenue streams. Since 2007, HP has invested more than $20 million in the program, resulting in the creation of more than an estimated 20,000 jobs and more than approximately 6,500 new businesses.

Maximize employee productivity with collaboration

HP provides SMBs with a broad range of technologies that reduce costs, improve efficiency and ensure collaboration for greater employee productivity. New solutions enable clients to:

- Increase productivity with the HP ProLiant ML110 G7, an entry-level server that is simple to deploy and manage. It supports basic office applications such as web messaging, small databases, file and print, as well as small vertical applications.
- Scale performance with the HP ProLiant DL120 G7 server, a powerful, entry-level rack-optimized server running a wide range of dedicated applications, including IT infrastructure applications, web, messaging, file and print operations, small internet applications and shared web access.
- Simplify deployment and management with the HP V1810-48G web-managed switch. This 48-port switch easily integrates into existing multivendor networks and accommodates increasing performance requirements as businesses grow and develop.
- Reduce energy costs with the easy-to-install, standards-based HP V1410 unmanaged Fast Ethernet switch series. The first IEEE Energy Efficiency Ethernet compliant switches are operational out of the box to offer SMBs an affordable entry-level networking solution.
- Increase performance with the HP P2000 G3 Modular Smart Array (MSA). Among the industry’s first entry-level storage solutions to support the VMware API for Array Integration and VMware vCenter, the HP P2000 MSA allows SMBs to get enterprise-class performance and VMware manageability. In addition, HP Insight Control Storage Module Manager for VMware vCenter enables management and monitoring of server, storage and networking resources for virtual machines within the vCenter console.

Control disruptions with business protection

The explosive growth of data and email is creating increased risk and complexity as well as recurring disaster recovery expenses for SMBs. These new solutions address challenges allowing SMBs to:

- Lower management costs up to 30 percent and reduce risk by consolidating technology with the HP Branch Office Consolidation solution. This turnkey solution offers a concise business plan and management software to help SMBs simplify, automate and integrate infrastructure to increase efficiency, reduce operational risk and support branch offices.(2)
- Minimize backup time by 90 percent and reduce recovery by 87 percent(3) with HP Business Risk Mitigation. The comprehensive infrastructure solution includes configurations for servers, storage and network upgrades, as well as management software for PCs, printers and other technology, to deliver high-availability data protection, security and offsite disaster recovery.
- Reduce risk of critical data loss with HP PC Backup Services, which reliably back up files on employee PCs ensuring rapid data restore in the event of an outage, corrupted files or a lost or stolen PC.

Identify future growth and revenue opportunities

Leveraging data to gain insight and make decisions is crucial to establishing a competitive advantage. Until now, this has been too complex and costly for many midsize businesses. HP has added business intelligence solutions to its HP AppSystem portfolio that are ideal for midsize organizations needing to easily mine rich customer data. As a result, clients can:

- Accelerate analysis of new and existing data sources with HP Business Decision Appliance. This complete, highly simplified business intelligence solution, now available for midsize businesses, brings together platforms from HP and Microsoft to deliver the power of information to everyone in an organization.
- Increase revenue and customer loyalty with the HP Business Data Warehouse Appliance, now available for midsize businesses, which includes preinstalled and preconfigured software in a single platform to leverage the power of real-time data analysis.

Manage cash and gain access to credit

HP Financial Services, the company’s leasing and life cycle asset management services division, is offering two financing options for businesses in the United States and Canada on HP equipment priced between $1,500 and $250,000. The new financing option offers a zero percent, 12-month lease with $1 purchase option or a zero percent, 36-month lease with fair market value purchase option.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) HP estimates.

(2) IDC White Paper sponsored by HP, “Improving the way branch offices compete, connect and control costs,” #227476, April 2011.

(3) IDC White Paper sponsored by HP, “Business risk and the midsize firm: what can be done to minimize disruptions?,” #223794, June 2010.

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 statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP’s businesses; the development and transition of new products and services (and the enhancement of existing products and services) to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the achievement of expected operational and financial results; and other risks that are described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2011 and HP’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2010. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.