News release

HP Delivers Printing Infrastructure Solutions to Make Distributed Output Processes More Efficient and Secure

Internet-enabled Business Portfolios Integrate Network Printing and Enterprise Applications

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 18, 2000

As part of its vision to help customers run an always-on, secure infrastructure, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP) today announced four solution portfolios containing products, services and support that enable businesses to develop an effective, integrated print output environment.

HP secure print, distributed print, print management, and delivery portfolios help improve and optimize printing output environments, allowing businesses to integrate front and back-end business processes -- such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), human resource management (HRM) or customer relationship management (CRM) -- to support the flow of information across their extended enterprises.

"These portfolios enable companies to build their printing infrastructure to help them not only minimize costs and improve employee productivity today, but also prepare them for the e-services they'll be using tomorrow," said Neal Martini, vice president and general manager, HP LaserJet Business Printing. "Today, we are realizing and expanding upon our vision to deliver intelligent printing appliances that let people access a variety of useful e-services, running on an always-on, secure infrastructure."

"As companies implement back-end business processes -- human resources management, accounting, sales force automation -- there is a clear need to integrate those processes with an output strategy," said Keith Kmetz, program director at IDC. "We believe that HP, with its portfolio of printing infrastructure solutions, has put together a package that successfully addresses the challenges associated with that integration."

Output solutions help create an integrated printing infrastructure, enabling companies to focus on their business objectives rather than the challenges of document distribution, print security or the need to track and manage printing and copying activity and costs. HP's solution portfolios, which contain a mix of products, services and support developed and distributed by HP and its partners, include:

• HP Secure Print -- This portfolio consists of products that restrict unauthorized access to privileged corporate data, negotiable documents and print resources, reducing the risk of liability caused by misuse of sensitive employee or corporate information.

• HP Distributed Print -- A lineup of products featuring HP's recently announced intelligent document formatting, which allows organizations to easily create and manage business documents using intelligent print resources that help save time and money by converting unformatted data streams into formatted business documents. This portfolio also includes the HP distributed host printing solution that enables enterprise organizations to distribute business information from legacy mainframes and midrange systems to local network printers.

• HP Print Management -- This portfolio features two recently developed HP solutions -- job accounting and the high performance printing system (HPPS). The job accounting solution is an integrated tracking and cost-recovery system that allows organizations to track, analyze and report printing- and copy-related expenses. HPPS is a server-based software system that captures high-volume batch transaction and department printing from multi-operating environments and sends it to dedicated HP LaserJet printers that are clustered. HP's Webjet Admin and Jetdirect 4000 print appliance round out this portfolio.

• HP Delivery -- A portfolio that solves distributed communications and distributed output management needs featuring Dazel Output Server, which was developed by HP subsidiary Dazel, and the soon-to-be-released HP document router. These products provide for the reliable delivery of documents and accelerate access to information by enabling companies to use the Web to streamline business processes.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that's always on.

HP has 88,500 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $48.8 billion in its 2000 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Oct. 31, 1999, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.