HP Enhances PartnerONE Program to Help Partners Grow New Business and Increase Return on Investment

PALO ALTO, CA, May 2, 2005,

HP today announced that it has enhanced and simplified its PartnerONE program providing incentives to channel partners to grow new business and increase the return on their investments.

HP’s PartnerONE program, now in its third year, continues to offer some of the industry’s richest programs for channel partners. Updates to the program include:

PartnerONE Network Tool - simplifies program structure and rewards partners for their expertise in specific market segments, technologies and IT solutions or applications;


Enhanced PartnerONE Portfolio Tool - delivers greater benefits for channel partners selling across HP’s product and services portfolio to help increase partner sales margins;


Ability to deliver HP Care Pack services and support for HP printer products, creating opportunities for profitability in delivering services;


Increased market development funds to help partners build demand for HP printer products;


Expedited HP payments on PartnerONE benefits via electronic funds transfer.


The enhancements take effect in the United States on May 1 and are available to all qualifying solution providers participating in the HP PartnerONE program.

“HP continues to make strides in putting together the best programs that help partners,” said Tim Joyce, president and chief executive officer, Roundstone Systems Corporation. “Each year, HP comes out with new opportunities that ultimately help us grow our business. The PartnerONE update is a great example of how HP keeps looking for the best ways to work with partners.”

Simplified network structure to reward expertise

The new PartnerONE Network Tool rationalizes a dozen separate designations under one umbrella with common eligibility requirements, benefits and available resources. This consistent approach makes it far easier for partners to align with HP target business segments and receive rewards for their investments.

The Network Tool breaks down into three areas:

Market Network for partners focused on specific market segments, such as small business;


Technology Network for partners with specialties in key HP technologies, such as enterprise storage products; and


Solutions Network that recognizes partner expertise in specific IT solutions or applications, such as information lifecycle management.


With the Network Tool, HP partners can benefit with subsidies for marketing campaigns, additional demo units, as well as special rebates and pricing discounts.

Added compensation for increased channel sales margins

To help HP continue to reward performance, the enhanced HP PartnerONE Portfolio Tool adds compensation for channel partners selling Alpha servers, education services and business continuity services.

In addition, the Portfolio Tool rewards partners for selling across HP’s enterprise portfolio, which includes software, servers, data storage and a full range of maintenance and consulting services. Specified ProCurve networking products and multifunction printers can be added to eligible sales deals for extra compensation.

Increasing margin with printer services

For the first time ever, qualified printer reselling partners can increase the profitability of their business by delivering HP Care Pack services for commercial printers. Partners with either the Authorized Warranty Delivery Partner or Authorized Services Delivery Partner designation are reimbursed for services performed on behalf of HP.

HP partner Sarcom piloted the offering in three of its 14 offices in the United States and is in the process of expanding it nationwide. Recently, the company sold and will deliver on 250 printer HP Care Pack services to a national grocery retailer.

Building market demand for imaging and printing products

HP is significantly increasing the market development funding available to partners to drive demand for specified imaging and printing products. With the market development funds, partners have lead time to plan demand generation initiatives and increase their revenues by targeting specific sales opportunities.

Accelerating payments

Partners can sign up for electronic funds transfer so HP payments on PartnerONE benefits arrive four to five days faster than checks delivered by mail. The partner benefits statement is included with the deposit notification. This service was tested in a successful pilot project and is now available to all HP partners. Sign up for electronic funds transfer can be done online via HP’s Partner Portal.

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, 2005, HP revenue totaled $81.8 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

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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 Jan. 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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